The Legacy
by Toysaurus
Summary: It’s nineteen years later and the Garden is preparing to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, when suddenly a strange individual transfers from Trabia. PG-13 for slight nudity and language
1. Default Chapter

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

With Apologies to Thomas Mallory and T.H. White

By Toysaurus

Chapter One

Nineteen years had past since the battle with Sorceress Ultimecia. Squall and Rinoa's marriage had lasted almost that long with their tying the knot six months after returning home from time compression. Their union had remained childless, much to Rinoa's sorrow. The brown-haired man never mentioned it. Some gray had crept into both of their hair, but Rinoa's was more plentiful and more noticeable.

Headmaster Cid had died five years before, suddenly and unexpectedly. Edea was presently in seclusion in Centra. Squall had been left in complete charge of the Garden, a job he was uncomfortable with, but as the new headmaster did the best he could.

Recently a passing strange event had occurred. The present headmaster of Trabia, a man of Squall's age, thirty-five years old, had suddenly resigned his position after many years at Trabia and transferred to Balamb Garden as an ordinary SeeD. Since Squall had to approve this before the transfer could be put through, Xu brought it to his attention by red-lining it for his immediate perusal.

Because of this, Squall had studied the man's personnel file very closely, but could find no reason not to approve his transfer. After all, there was no law against a man taking a demotion.

The man was requesting a transfer to Balamb Garden because for years he had heard about the wonderful exploits of Squall and decided finally that before he grew too old he wanted to work under the command of such a man, if only for a short time.

The day he arrived at Balamb Garden began inauspiciously for him. He was walking around the circular pool of blue water on his way to the elevators to report to Squall when it happened. Squall, who had his head down because he was reading a report on why some of the GF's had been acting on their own volition, ran right into the ex-headmaster from Trabia Garden and knocked him to the floor.

Being distracted by the seriousness of the report he was reading, the current headmaster of Balamb Garden muttered, "Sorry," and attempted to keep going.

The man from Trabia, of course, took complete umbrage at Squall's behavior. He pulled himself up from the floor and exclaimed, while drawing his gunblade, "I challenge you sir for your dastardly deed."

Squall, having no idea at all who this ninny was, attempted to lightened the moment by doing his best Rinoa imitation. "Oh, puleeze!" he exclaimed, while pushing by the man who was attempting to block his way.

As the headmaster continued on his way around the pool, the man shouted out, "You, sir, are a coward and you are fortunate that you did not choose to tangle with the right arm of Squall Leonhart!"

Squall stopped dead in his tracks and turned, now greatly amused. He said, "But I am Squall Leonhart." The man suddenly fell to his knees in front of the headmaster, while crying out, "Oh forgive me, I did not know!"

Squall embarrassedly glanced at the crowd of SeeDs and students that were gathering around and avidly watching the outré interaction. He quickly pulled the man to his feet while entreating, "Please stop doing that. It was my fault. I should have been paying closer attention to where I walked."

"Oh, thank you, thank you," the stranger gushed. "It's much more than I deserve."

Sensing rather than seeing the crowd beginning to inch closer in order to hear better, the Commander turned with his most penetrating stare. "I would strongly suggest that each of you carry on with your assigned duties," he said in a harsh tone. "If you currently have none, I'm certain that I can find something to assign you."

The crowd quickly scattered with everyone resuming their respective journeys. Soon only Squall and the stranger were standing in the immediate area. Squall turned back to him with a small rueful smile. This was the first real look that he had of the newcomer. The blond-haired man was singularly unattractive, some might even say ugly. He had a high sloping forehead, a small broad nose, and wide open brown eyes. Of course this made no impression on Squall at all; what did impress him was the man looked only to be in his late twenties, stood at least six feet, and possessed a powerful build.

"Sorry," he murmured, "Sometimes I have to do that to maintain discipline."

"Oh yes, I whole heartedly agree," the man concurred emphatically.

After a few seconds, Squall said, "I'm sorry, you have the advantage of me."

"Oh pardon me, I'm the new transfer from Trabia Garden," he spoke, while handing the Squall the file he had been carrying.

This statement just reaffirmed what Squall had been thinking. Flipping the file open, he perused it for a few seconds and then looked up and asked, "You're Lance - how do you pronounce the last name?"

The man smiled as if he had heard that his entire life. "It's du Luc, originally it was Centran, supposed to mean of the water or something like that."

Squall smiled in return. "Oh well," he said, "we can't very well choose our last names. Look at mine, for instance - Leonheart."

"Oh no," Lance earnestly protested. "Your name is heroic, it connotes greatness."

Squall slightly cocked his head, and with a quizzical expression on his face, thought, _ Well, what exactly do we have here? _ He realized he should send the new man to meet with Assistant Headmaster, Xu, to go over the necessary new hire paper work, etc., but Squall discovered himself intrigued. It was such a different emotion for the world weary man, who felt he had seen it all, that he decided to keep Lance by his side for the time being.

"Lance, come along with me, I need to deliver these papers to Assistant Headmaster Xu," Squall explained.

The two men began to walk around the large fountain in the middle of the Garden's atrium.

"Please allow me to perform your task for you. Surely your time is more valuable than to serve as a errand boy," the blond-haired man entreated.

Squall was nonplussed for a few seconds, and then said, "No, that's okay, it's all in a day's work. But I'm curious, how could you deliver something to somebody you've never met and in a Garden you've never been to before?"

"I could ask until I found my way," Lance answered pragmatically.

With a slight shake of his head, Squall replied, "Well, whatever, just come with me."

"Yes sir," he answered sharply.

Squall blushed slightly and protested, "Don't call me sir, you were a Headmaster yourself."

"Yes Headmaster," he responded.

"Are you being obtuse on purpose? Just please call me Squall," Squall spoke.

"Oh no, I could never do that. I am merely a lowly SeeD," Lance explained.

Again Squall was nonplussed. "Certainly not," he responded strongly. "With your experience, you should, at the very least, be a Commander."

"I beg your pardon to differ, sir…I mean…Squall," Lance stammered. "I should only become a SeeD after you have seen what I am capable of."

"But it's all right in here," the headmaster countered, while tapping the file, "and by the way is it true that you have mastered all weapons and styles of fighting?"

"Yes sir," Lance answered, hanging his head slightly down.

"Squall, please!" Squall said again.

"Oh, sorry," Lance answered.

Squall suddenly felt the need to press his hand into his forehead, but Rinoa had broken him of the habit years before. "Okay, I'm your superior, and this is my decision. You will spend the next few days by my side. I want to totally orientate you to my duties within the Garden. If I am called away suddenly, I need you here."

"If that is what you wish," Lance replied, although it was obvious from the expression on his face that he was not happy.

Walking up the short flight of steps to the elevators, Squall and Lance stood waiting for one to arrive. "By the way, if this is too personal, please feel free to not answer," Squall began.

"Oh I have no secrets from you," Lance interrupted.

Squall sighed and then asked, "Why exactly did you wish to transfer from being the Headmaster at Trabia Garden to come here?"

"Why?" Lance sounded incredulous. "To study the greatest warrior alive, of course."

As the elevator arrived, Squall was stunned into silence again. "O-kay," he spoke slowly, as they entered the elevator.

Once they reached Xu's office, Squall dropped off the papers and Lance's new personnel file. Once Squall made the necessary introductions, and Xu began to speak with their new employee, the conversation was just more of the same. Several times Xu turned her head to Squall and rolled her eyes in a response to something ludicrous sounding that Lance had said. Squall decided it had grown past time to terminate the interview.

"We won't hold you up any longer Xu," Squall explained. "Come along, Lance." As they were leaving, Squall heard Xu's soft giggling, and he hoped Lance had not noticed it. He immediately found his hope was mistaken as the elevator began its downward journey.

Lance offered, "It's perfectly alright, I am used to being laughed at. All true fanatics are scoffed at by others and, I sir, am a fanatic. It is a lonely quest to find perfection, but once upon a time, I thought I had. Then I studied your life and found I was mistaken. I have much to learn from you."

Squall was more than slightly embarrassed, but he managed to say, "Maybe we can learn from each other."

Two hours later, Squall and Lance were still seated in his large office that befitted his position of Headmaster.

"So you were really promoted to Headmaster at the age of twenty?" Squall asked. "That's incredible - a SeeD at fifteen, an instructor at sixteen, a Commander at seventeen, and then that," Squall spoke softly.

"You were a Headmaster at the age of seventeen," Lance asserted.

Squall slightly ducked his head and responded, "Not really, just a Commander and that wasn't a promotion. It was just thrust upon me."

"It was fate," Lance insisted. "The stars were perfectly aligned and a young hero was chosen. Call your official title what you will, you headed the Garden successfully in the Second Sorceress War. Unlike me, who just trudged along day by day until I achieved some minor success."

Squall found it practically impossible to win in argument with the man, and yet he felt strangely drawn to him. He had never met anyone like him in his life. Charisma seemed to ooze from him, and yet he was so humble. Squall reached a decision and stood up from his desk.

"Come along, Lance. I want you to meet my wife."

Lance stood up with some alacrity. "It would be a great honor to meet the famous Sorceress Rinoa, descendant of the Great Hyne," he spoke.

Squall blanched, realizing how Rinny would have responded to that. "Please," he entreated. "Just call her Rinoa when I introduce her to you."

"I could never be so rude," Lance insisted.

"Lance!"

Although he only had known Squall for a few hours, Lance already recognized that that particular tone brooked no argument. "Whatever you wish," he murmured.

……….

Three old friends sat easily talking among themselves in the presently quiet quad. Most of the students were still in class and SeeDs were going about their daily routine. The years had been kind to the three maturing women. Outside of Rinoa's gray in her hair, she appeared as vibrant as ever. Quistis had matured into a strikingly beautiful woman, whose full bloom was still upon her. Selphie appeared almost identical as she had as a teenager, although the now present lines in her face told of some of the hardships she had endured since that time.

"How much time did you take off from Galbadia Garden?" Rinoa asked.

"Three weeks, although I can stay longer if I wish," answered Quistis. "After all, I am the boss." Quistis grinned, to show she was joking and not egotistical concerning her position as Headmaster of Galbadia Garden.

"And you, Selphie?" the dark-haired woman inquired.

Selphie and Irvine were currently stationed at the Garden in Esthar. "Oh, whatever we need," she answered off handedly. "You know how that leave builds up. I can't remember the last time we went away anywhere, you know with the kids and everything."

Quistis immediately noticed the look of quiet pain that moved across Rinoa's beautiful features as a fleeting cloud of sadness. She was well aware of the emotional pain her friend suffered as a result of her and Squall's childless state.

"I mean I figured our fifteen year old could watch the other two, I wasn't going to miss the thirtieth anniversary of the Garden for anything," Selphie continued, her tone beginning to echo the sounds of yesteryear in her excitement.

Hoping to keep Selphie speaking in terms of the upcoming festival and away from talking about her children, Quistis quickly asked, "So do you have any ideas yet, Selphie?"

"You bet I do!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly. "This will be the best ever, listen to what I've already thought of."

……….

"Excuse me for interrupting, Rinoa. There's someone I would like you all to meet," Squall explained a few moments later.

"Oh Squall, you should hear all the great ideas Selphie has for the Anniversary Festival," Rinoa exclaimed, her face once more wreathed in happiness."

_It's good to see her smile, _ the headmaster thought, _ She's seemed so depressed lately. _

"We're even going to have a tournament and we're hoping we can convince Edea - ."

"Rin, that's great, and you can tell me all about it later," Squall interrupted. "I want you all to meet our new transfer from Trabia, Lance."

Quistis could recognize her friend was piqued to be interrupted from the look in her eyes, but Rinoa sat affixed with a sweet smile on her face. She looked beyond Squall to a man who appeared to resemble a towering hulk. A shudder ran through her and her blood ran cold. _ Who in the world is that?! _ she thought.

"Ladies, this is Lance," Squall continued in the same vein. "He's just transferred here from Trabia."

_ Ooh, Trabia! _ Selphie naturally thought. _ I wonder how my old friends are doing? _

"Lance, come step up here, don't hang back there. This is Selphie, Quistis, and my wife, Rinoa."

Upon Squall mentioning Rinoa, the blond-haired man threw himself down on his knees once again. Ignoring Squall's attempts to pull him to his feet, he exclaimed, "It is such an honor to meet the Great Sorceress Rinoa. I have never even dreamt of such a thing happening,"

While Selphie looked on completely nonplussed, Quistis hid her grin behind her hand. Squall again felt like reverting to an old habit and grinding his palm into his forehead. Rinoa's face grew bright red in embarrassment and anger.

"Lance, Lance, get up!" Squall insisted and finally succeeded in pulling him to his feet.

"And what has brought you here at such an advanced age?" the dark-haired woman asked bitingly.

"Rinoa!" Squall protested.

"I, who have successfully sought perfection in every manner, have come to study at the feet of the world's greatest warrior, Squall Leonhart."

"Lance!" Squall exclaimed.

"Oh, do tell. Have you reached this perfection?" Rinoa asked snidely.

"Rinoa, please," her husband pleaded.

"Yes, m'lady, I - ."

"Please! If you can't call me by my name, call me Mrs. Leonhart," Rinoa snappishly interrupted.

"I beg your pardon," Lance entreated. "I have attained every attribute of perfection, except for one," he explained.

"Oh, what might that be - humility?" Rinoa asked coolly.

"Humility?" Lance asked confused.

"Yes, humility or isn't it fashionable in Trabia this year?"

"We'll be going now ladies and leave you to your planning," Squall explained, suddenly pulling backwards on Lance's arm. "Come Lance, I still have much to show you."

And he quickly led Lance back up the stairs from the Quad area. With the intuition of the long married, Squall could feel Rinoa's angry glare boring into his back.

_ Hyne, _ he thought. _ I'm gonna hear about this later. _

As soon as the two men were out of hearing, Selphie said, "Shiva, what an unpleasant man. I bet the Garden at Trabia was glad to get rid of him."

"Oh, I don't know," Quistis speculated. "I thought he was sorta interesting."

"You would!" Selphie retorted, but her smile took the sting from her words.

"I know one thing," Rinoa interrupted.

When her two friends glanced at her in askance, she vowed, "He won't be here long if I have anything to say about it."

……….

Late that evening, Squall and Rinoa were preparing for bed. She suddenly asked, while slipping between the covers of their king-sized bed, "What exactly were you doing with that buffoon this afternoon?"

Her husband sighed, realizing all evening that this conversation was inevitable.

"Rinoa," he said plainly, hoping to keep the conversation from escalating into an argument. "He is not a buffoon, he is the greatest SeeD we have ever had here."

"Including you? Don't make me laugh," she retorted.

"Yes," Squall answered emphatically, "including me. He has successfully mastered all manner of fighting. I would never even think to attempt such a thing."

"That's what he says."

"It's in his file," Squall insisted.

"Which he brought with him, it could have been changed," she accused. "Well, as far as that goes, we shall see," Rinoa said, with a cheshire smile crossing her lips.

"And he has already made some wonderful suggestions for ways to better the Garden," Squall continued in his praise of the new transfer.

"Oh, I have no doubt of that," Rinoa responded sarcastically. "I imagine he wants us all to wear ashes and hair shirts. And another thing, I heard he even told someone that Hyne has granted him the ability to perform miracles. Ever you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?"

"I'm certain he was just referring to his physical prowess, which is vast indeed," her husband attempted to explain.

"Oh, you have an answer for everything he does. Why don't you go share his room with him tonight? I'm going to sleep, turn off the light." And she rolled over and literally presented him with a cold shoulder.

After sighing heavily, Squall climbed into bed, pulled the covers over him and snapped off the bedside lamp. It was a long while until he feel asleep.


	2. The Legacy Chapter Two

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Two

Squall had always realized how fortunate he was to have the ever competent Xu as his Assistant Headmaster. There was only one reason she had never transferred to another Garden in hopes of receiving a promotion to headmaster; she had married a man who was a civilian engineer from Esthar. Xu had met him when representing the Garden at a formal state dinner. She had always thanked Squall thereafter for begging off the dinner and assigning her to attend instead.

After her marriage vows had been taken, Squall was able to induce Xu to remain at the Garden with a pay raise to Assistant Headmaster and by providing her and her husband a large comfortable apartment. It was a privilege previously unheard of except of course for the living quarters of the headmasters. Xu accepted his graceful offer and they settled down idyllically in their first year of marriage at the Garden. Three years later, Xu gave birth to twins and that served to cement the arrangement she had at the Garden. She knew of no where else she could have a built-in daycare facility at her place of employment and she and her husband were easily able to split parenting duties.

Xu had decided early on, much to the disappointment of many, that her sons would not receive the training at Garden, but instead, as soon as they were old enough, they were sent to an elite private day school just outside of Timber. It wasn't that she had anything against the Garden, or that she had regretted in any way being trained as a mercenary, but Xu envisioned a more peaceful life for her sons. Her husband, Tom, wholeheartedly agreed with her.

Both Xu and her now middleaged husband were busy with their own bedtime activities. Xu, despite being in her early forties, had retained her fit, attractive figure, and her hair had remained jet black. Her husband still appeared to Xu as handsome as on the day they were wed, but of course she was looking through the eyes of love. In reality, his waist line was thickening and his once abundant black hair was thinning.

"Anything interesting happen today?" he asked Xu, as he often did at the end of the day. Tom enjoyed hearing of the intrigues and the political infighting of the staff and also the political world surrounding the Garden.

"No," Xu answered offhandedly, while slipping her nightgown over her head. "It was just - no wait, there was one thing. You remember me telling you about the Headmaster from Trabia that wanted to transfer here?"

"Yeah, I think so," her husband answered, while sitting heavily on his side of the bed.

"Well, he arrived today and what a character he is," Xu elaborated.

"A character?" Tom questioned. "How so?"

"You'd really have to talk to him to get the full impact, but I've never met anyone who was such a blowhard about themselves and yet so humble at the same time."

"Wow, that is a weird combination, I bet he's gonna liven things up around here," her husband playfully suggested.

Xu laughed and agreed, "Yeah, I bet you're right."

……….

The days passed slowly but led inexorably to the gala celebration of the Garden's thirtieth anniversary. Edea had finally consented to attend after a great deal of cajoling by Rinoa. The, now aging, but still attractive, older woman agreed to be in attendance if someone would pick her up on the eve of the celebration. There was a full day of activities scheduled culminating in the tournament, which would consist of competition between SeeDs utilizing every type of weapon used at the Garden and the different styles of fighting.

People had grown used to seeing Squall and Lance together a great deal of the time and no longer thought anything about it. Upon Squall's insistence, Rinoa had settled into an uneasy truce with the new Trabia transfer. If they discovered themselves in the same room, they would noncommittally speak or nod at each other, and then quickly go on their way.

On the night before the gala celebration, Squall and Rinoa were once again to be found in their bedroom. They both were donning their bed clothing in anticipation of making it an early night, as they had to be up incredibly early the next morning in preparation of the day's festivities. With much misgiving, Squall broached a subject he had been avoiding since dinner.

"Uh Rinoa," he began tentatively, "I was looking at the tournament schedule and -."

"Oh, doesn't it look great?" Rinoa happily interrupted. "It's gonna be so exciting."

"Yeah," the headmaster replied, not nearly as boisterously as his wife. "But I was wondering about the placements."

"What do you mean?" Rinoa questioned, her tone suddenly sharp.

"Well, it looked as if Lance had been placed opposite the champion in every category right off the bat," her husband explained. "It's almost as if someone was hoping to cause him to appear as badly as possible."

"I'm sure I wouldn't know anything about that," Rinoa replied haughtily. "Selphie is responsible for the tournament schedule."

"Aw come on, Rinoa," Squall complained as his temper broke. "You know as well as me that Selphie will do whatever you tell her to."

"What are you accusing me of?"

Squall made himself calm down considerably, hoping to engage his beautiful wife in a dialogue rather than an argument. "Rinny, don't you think you could lighten up on Lance a little? He's the best SeeD we have and you've continued to be so rough on him. Other people are beginning to pick up on it and talk about it. It's not good for morale."

"Morale - sporale!" Rinoa riposted. "In point of fact, he is not the best SeeD we have - you are and -."

"Well, you're being loyal and that's nice," Squall interrupted, "but he certainly is far better than me and even if that isn't the case, you have no reason to treat him so poorly."

"Oh, I beg to differ. The man is an insufferable prig and no one except for you can stand him. Personally I think he needs to get laid, although how that would ever happen is beyond me. He never seems to go near a woman."

"Rinoa!" Squall remonstrated, shocked and scandalized to hear such vulgarisms from his dear wife. "Save that stuff for your hen parties. Lance is the best we have and I think it would behoove you to acknowledge that."

"Well, I don't," retorted Rinoa, having the last word as usual.

And so without saying another word, the long time married couple went to bed angry without resolving a thing.

……….

The dawn of the morning of the Garden's Thirtieth Anniversary broke with Squall and Rinoa still not speaking with each other. They silently dressed and then each went their separate ways, their individual duties to perform.

A special breakfast consisting of Shumi toast, Galbadian waffles, and Esthar omelets was served and presided over by Squall serving as the Master of the Morning Ceremonies. After greeting all of the special guests (members of all the different governments from around the world had been invited), the headmaster proceeded to introduce Edea to the cheering audience.

Edea arose gracefully to her feet, attired in her usual black dress and high heels. Although she was certainly by now in her late fifties, Edea appeared as beautiful as ever. Her long hair had remained coal black, prompting many of the younger women in the crowd to cattily think she must be holding off the gray from appearing in her hair with the use of hair color. She thanked Squall for his most gracious introduction and then the Festival committee for insisting she attend.

Dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes with a pocket hanky, Edea spoke movingly in her low throaty voice. "I know Cid would have been very touched if he were here today to witness such an outpouring of praise and joy at the continuance of his dream, the Garden."

Holding her hand up to calm the spontaneous applause from the crowd, Edea continued, "I would personally like to express my gratitude to the three women who were most instrumental in planning this celebration - Rinoa Leonhart, Quistis Trepe, and Selphie Kinneas. Please stand up - the three of you."

The headmaster's wife quickly stood self consciously and then just as quickly reseated herself. Quistis stood broadly beaming while Selphie shouted out, "Booyaka!"

Rinoa flushed in embarrassment as the crowd tittered. After the two women had regained their seats, Edea said, "So in conclusion let me again express my heartfelt gratitude for this remembrance, and please realize whether I am physically present with all of you or not, my love is always with you."

Edea sat down and the crowd rose as one in a standing ovation. Finally as it appeared to be winding down, Squall took over the microphone again. "We will reconvene in fifteen minutes outside on the grounds for the parade of the junior classmen."

Rushing up to Squall during the short break, Rinoa gushed, "Oh Squall, I think it's going very well, don't you? And you're doing a great job."

"Hmmm, thanks," he replied distractedly. The headmaster was preoccupied in his worries over the upcoming tournament. Squall didn't know what it was, but he had a presentiment of an approaching disaster.

His lack of response was not lost on Rinoa, who responded, "For God's sake, Squall. Lighten up! This is your day to shine in the sun before the entire world. Relax for once, and have a good time."

Attempting to smile for Rinoa's sake, Squall was just relieved that she was speaking to him again. It would have made the day even more tedious for him if his wife had remained committed to her vow of silence.

"You're right Rin," the headmaster acquiesced. Offering his arm to her, Squall invited, "Shall we go watch the parade?"

Strolling arm in arm from the Garden into the bright sunlight, Rinoa felt gratified that it appeared it was going to be a beautiful day. The high sky was azure blue and there were only a few drifting clouds to be seen. She was looking forward to the junior classmen parade. Selphie had worked long and hard with them in preparation for their grand moment in the sun.

Besides the small marching band, the parade consisted of different floats that were pulled slowly by motorcycles procured from the Galbadian Garden. The floats commemorated important and noteworthy events from the Garden's past. Of course by necessity, many of the scenes portrayed involved Squall and the rest of the young heroes from the time of fighting Ultimecia.

As each float slowly passed by him, Squall felt as though memories, long suppressed, were being forcibly pulled into his consciousness. He began to subconsciously grit his teeth in frustration and protest until a sharp tug on his hand from Rinoa brought him back to the present.

Looking down into her smiling face, Squall murmured, "Thanks."

"Yeah, I thought you looked like you had zoned out for a minute. Speaking of which, have you seen Zone? He said he was gonna be here."

Squall answered in the negative and was grateful that the parade was drawing to a close. As the last float disappeared around the side of the Garden, Squall stepped forward as the crowd shouted its appreciation.

"Wasn't that great?" Squall asked rhetorically in forced heartedness. Only those close to him would have detected the false note in his voice. "I would like to thank the junior classmen for all their hard work on the parade and especially Selphie Tilmitt - I mean Kinneas - for her fine direction."

Standing beside Squall, Rinoa smiled deeply at him. She, of all people, understood the difficulty he experienced with acting as the 'hale fellow well met' public figure he was now displaying and how much he had changed over the years to be able to successfully pull it off.

"There will be a short intermission and then the upperclassmen will present an important scene from the history of the Garden. I haven't as of yet seen it personally, but I have it on good authority that it is very impactful."

As the stagehands scurried here and there quickly setting up for the scene, Quistis joined Rinoa and Squall.

"I think it's going very well, don't you?" the blonde haired woman asked them.

As Squall simply nodded, Rinoa gushed, "Oh yes, I couldn't agree more."

Quistis continued, "Selphie already has them setting up the tables for the picnic lunch."

"Oh good," Rinoa replied happily. "I can hardly wait 'til the tournament this afternoon."

Quistis couldn't help but notice that at the mention of the tournament Squall appeared at the very least concerned, if not downright worried.

"What's wrong, Squall?" she wondered.

Before the headmaster could respond, Rinoa said playfully while tapping him on the arm, "Oh don't fret over him. He's just an 'ol worry wart, aren't you, Squally?"

Quistis giggled to hear such a silly appellation given to the headmaster in public, but quickly covered her faux pas by placing her hand over her mouth; although not before the taciturn Squall scowled at her.

Thankfully for all concerned, it appeared that the makeshift grassy stage had been finished and the scene was about to begin. Selphie stepped up in front of the cardboard walls that had been set up and began to address the crowd.

"The upper-classmen themselves voted on what they considered to be the most important event in the history of the Garden. This is the presentation of that decision," she explained.

While the huge crowd clapped politely, Selphie stepped off. She was immediately replaced by a small, brown-haired boy, who obviously was one of the junior classmen.

"Sis, where are yew?" he called out.

Inwardly Squall cringed in embarrassment, already realizing what event had been chosen by the students. The little boy ran further down while a young man who was obviously supposed to be the teenage Squall stepped out from between the 'buildings.' He was attired completely authentic and even had a makeup scar running across his face. Squall had had that actual scar removed years before through plastic surgery.

If Squall had been unpleasantly surprised before by discovering which event the upper-classmen had chosen to portray, he was downright flabbergasted to observe Edea, playing herself, step out into the scene.

"Excuse me," she said. "Have you seen a little boy run by here?"

"Don't worry," the young actor replied. "He won't run far."

"I know, the poor thing," Edea said.

Squall closed his eyes tightly against watching further, but of course he couldn't shut his ears. Why in the world, he wondered, did they have to pick this event? And besides everything else, it had never made any sense to Squall. What did it all mean - that Matron was introduced to the ideas of Garden and SeeD from himself of the future? That was absolutely ludicrous to consider, wasn't it? Or was it all just a trick played by Ultimecia's Time Compression magic?

Mercifully the scene drew to a close to a rousing ovation from the audience. Squall slowly opened his eyes to observe Rinoa watching him, open concern written across her features. Before she could respond, Selphie came bounding up.

"So what did you all think?" she asked cheerfully.

"I thought it was terrible," Squall snarled and turned on his heel and quickly walked away from the two women.

"Okay for you, Mr. Big Head Leonhart," Selphie called out and then laughed. "Same old Squall."

Rinoa didn't deign to reply, but instead just looked worriedly at the back of her retreating husband.


	3. The Legacy Chapter Three

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Three

Tournament:  
A contest of skill among a number of competitors, involving a series of matches.

The picnic lunch was thoroughly enjoyed by most of the participants and included a vast array of various specialty items from around the world, such as Shumi sandwiches, Estharian Pizza, Gysahl Pickles specially flown in from the country of Ludlum, and of course for Rinoa, fried Chocobo.

While Selphie talked excitedly with Quistis about the past morning's activities, Rinoa desperately searched the huge throng of people to catch a glimpse of Squall. She was concerned about his present state of mind and whether he would be able to fulfill his responsibility of serving as the MC for the afternoon's tournament.

Rinoa was absentmindedly nibbling at one of the huge pickles when Selphie happen to finally take notice of her.

_ Ooh, how can she stand to eat those smelly things? _ the green-eyed woman wondered.

"Rinoa, you seem awfully distracted. Are you okay?" Selphie inquired solicitously.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm just a little worried about Squall, that's all."

"I'm certain that he's fine, Rinoa. He's probably hiding in his office licking his wounds," Quistis suggested.

"Yeah, that big meanie! He'll be okay, he's always is," Selphie offered spitefully. She was still smarting from being told by Squall that their wonderful scene had been terrible.

"Look, there he is now - over there with Lance," Quistis pointed out.

Sure enough, as Rinoa turned her head in the direction her old friend was pointing, she observed Squall talking with Lance; both of them appearing thick as thieves.

_ That's just like him, _ the headmaster's wife thought. _ Here I am worried about him and he's over there talking to that - that person again. _

"See - he's okay, Rinoa," Selphie offered.

Rinoa abruptly stood up and began to cross to where Squall and his companion were standing.

"Well, I like that," Selphie commented at her friend's slight. "What's she got a bug up her you know where about?"

"Selphie!" Quistis couldn't help but laugh at her friend's familiar audacity. "Rinoa's probably just jealous about all the time Squall spends with Lance."

"Jealous? Why would she be so jealous of Lance? Unless of course," Selphie continued, appearing extremely pensive for her. "You're not suggesting that Squall and Lance have a - you know - a thing for each other, are you?"

"Selphie," Quistis said, while continuing to laugh, "You're incorrigible."

"Hehe, yep, that's me."

As soon as Squall observed Rinoa striding over to them with a less than pleasant expression on her usually placid features, he wished Lance luck in the upcoming tournament and bade him farewell. Lance, realizing that discretion is the better part of valor, took the hint and quickly left Squall's side.

"So what was that confab all about?" the dark-haired woman demanded unpleasantly.

Squall couldn't help but sigh, and he sincerely hoped that this wasn't going to escalate into an embarrassing public argument.

"He was just asking me if I were alright and I wished him success in the tournament," Squall explained.

"Hehe, he's going to need it," Rinoa chortled.

"Rinoa," Squall lowly warned while glancing around to see if anyone could have possibly overheard her indecorous remark.

Hoping to make quick amends and to change the subject, she asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

He grimaced, but answered, "Yeah, but what time does the tournament start? I just want to get this Godawful day over with."

"It's supposed to begin in fifteen minutes. Perhaps you should make an announcement and get everybody started heading in the right direction?"

The tournament would be held in the grand ballroom, which had been transformed into a makeshift gymnasium, albeit a huge one. Temporary seating was to be provided in the form of portable grandstands and the floor of the ballroom would come equipped with the necessary padding, etc. for the various competitions. Although technically the tournament was open to all SeeDs worldwide, it was considered bad form to register to compete and not be currently from Balamb Garden. Therein lay the sore point between the headmaster and his wife, because the roster of participants included such obvious _ ringers _ as Selphie, Irvine, and Quistis, all of whom were no longer technically connected with Balamb Garden. Squall realized that they could only have been convinced to enter at the insistence of Rinoa. In fact, Zell had been penciled in for the hand to hand competition and no one even knew if he was present.

Zell had been promoted to a SeeD instructor of such high ranking that he circulated among all of the Gardens around the world with his responsibility being to train all the other instructors that were involved with teaching hand to hand combat. It had last been reported that he was on his way back from Esthar earlier in the morning.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Squall called out.

The considerable din from myriad conversations quickly quieted and Squall explained tersely, "The tournament will begin in fifteen minutes in the ballroom."

Most of the crowd began to disperse slowly on their way to the festival's last scheduled activity. Squall and Rinoa walked through them, both of them silent with their own thoughts. Squall's feelings of foreboding had continued to grow stronger as the day had lengthened, but he felt it was would be totally senseless to attempt to convince Rinoa at this point that her plan to humiliate Lance was ill conceived at best.

To be fair, Rinoa was beginning to have second thoughts herself. She had more than enough insight into herself to realize that it was extremely mean spirited of her to say the least to load the tournament against Lance.

_ But he's so damn smug all the time, _ she thought as she walked beside her husband. _ I don't buy that humble act for a minute, the way Squall does. Besides Squall is wrong! I'm not ruining morale - Lance is. Practically everyone in the Garden is talking about him behind his back and snickering about it. _

Underneath her feelings, Rinoa had an unspoken fear that the recent transfer from Trabia Garden had arrived to ultimately attempt to take over the headmaster's position from Squall. Oh she was certain that her husband would be _ demoted _ upwards to a prestigious position, such as serving as the Garden's representative in the World Executive Government, but Rinoa realized that Squall would be miserable in it. Besides, she loved the Garden and would never consider living anywhere else.

_ If I'm wrong about the man, I've done him and Squall a grave injustice, _ she now realized desolately. _ But it's too late now anyway, and besides I don't think I am - the audacity of the man to enter every category! _

Squall with Rinoa standing beside him waited impatiently at the judge's table for the crowd to slowly filter in and finally be seated. In his frustration, Squall felt he just wanted to scream out for everybody to please shut up and sit down, but he just silently gritted his teeth in its stead. He was gratified at least that the other two judges were already seated beside him at the table; one being Xu, although he was surprised to observe that Edea was the third judge.

Finally when the large crowd had seated themselves and quieted enough for Squall to be heard without his shouting, having refused the offer of a microphone, he launched into his welcome and briefly explained the rules of the tournament. For each category there would be head to head competition between the participants with the winners advancing to the next round ultimately leading to a match between the two finalists.

"The first competition will involve what is traditionally known as the quarter-staff," Squall explained abruptly and then he surprisingly just sat down at the table. Rinoa flushed in embarrassment and quickly seated herself next to him.

"You're supposed to introduce all the contestants and each round," she whispered to Squall.

"To hell with that," he answered lowly. "They can figure it out for themselves."

Rinoa seethed at Squall's refusal to use his public politesse, which he had so arduously learned through the years, but for once recognizing the inappropriateness of the entire situation held her tongue. Xu stood up to cover for Squall's faux pas to introduce the first contestants and explain the specific's of the category. The weapon used was a long enhanced steel staff and all those participating in the event would be well padded with safety equipment, including a helmet.

Lance made easy work of his opponents, cutting through everyone like a sharp knife through butter. It had become a foregone conclusion for the spectators as he had actually ousted his first adversary in under a minute and the entire competition took less than thirty minutes.

Lance advanced to the judge's table where Squall stood and awarded him the first gold medal of the afternoon. After congratulating his new friend, Squall reseated himself and turned to Rinoa with a small smile on his face.

"That's only one," she retorted.

"You know, with the way you rigged this tournament against Lance, I'm surprised you didn't enter the competition yourself with your Blaster Edge," Squall pointed out sarcastically.

Although Rinoa snorted in derision at his comment, a short while later she actually wished that she had. Lance made short work of his opponents, decisively defeating the other finalist, Kasumi, so badly that he sent her to the clinic with a slight concussion. Once again Lance approached the judge's table and was presented with his second gold medal while being warmly congratulated by Squall.

Seating himself again, Squall heard Rinoa whisper to him, "Don't look so smug. Just wait until Selphie and Quistis get a hold of him."

Unfortunately for Rinoa's threat, the next competition scheduled was Kendo, the ancient art of sword fighting. The weapon traditionally utilized was called a Shinai, which was a four piece bamboo or fiberglass sword used for practice and sparring matches. Since there was only one accomplished SeeD in this skill besides Lance, there was no one in the Garden qualified to judge the event.

Prior to the anniversary festival, Selphie foreseeing this problem in advance had conducted an online search and located an esteemed Kendo trainer in Shumi Village. He had agreed to attend the tournament and serve the unusual double duty as the referee and chief judge. Since there were only two entrants, it had been decided that the contest would consist of the best two out of three matches.

Rinoa had high hopes that this would prove to be Lance's undoing as she believed that he couldn't possibly be highly trained in this rather unique area of fighting, and besides Kristen, his adversary, was considered to be of world class status. Lance won the first match easily and in doing so had out scored the young SeeD so badly, she chose to shiai-kychi; in other words, she conceded the match.

Squall once more presented Lance with a gold medal and a hearty handshake. As he seated himself, Rinoa hissed into his ear, "Don't say one damn word or I swear to you that I'll scream right here."

Squall's possible response would forever remain a mystery as right then Zell bolted wildly into the ballroom. He appeared flushed from exertion and was heavily perspiring. Still having the same personality traits as his younger years, he glanced wildly around the huge room until he spotted Rinoa sitting at the judge's table in the front.

Never one to be loath of creating an embarrassing scene, Zell ignored the sudden hushed silence of the crowd, and bolted to the table. Gasping for breath, Zell managed to say, "Am I too late? I got held up at Esthar airport due to severe thunder storms."

Rinoa smiled winsomely at him, pleased that at least something appeared to be working out the way she planned and answered, "No, as a matter of fact -."

"You're just in time to judge the Nunchaku competition," Squall interrupted.

A quick smile split Zell's handsome features. "Sure," he exclaimed. "I'd be glad to."

Rinoa's heart sank. She had been hoping for the three judge panel to umpire the contest as she felt that Xu might be more inclined to lean towards Selphie. Although Xu had never directly commented to Rinoa concerning her thoughts about Lance, she felt that the Assistant Headmaster shared her feelings towards him, through her unspoken body language when she mentioned him. She realized that Zell would be strictly objective and would take his role as judge quite seriously, as he always had done in the past when he was placed in charge of something by Squall.

"That was a dirty trick," Rinoa hissed at her husband.

"What?" Squall answered, with mock innocence evident on his face.

"Let's get it on!" Zell exclaimed in his ever constant excitement.

The first match of the competition, as Squall had previously complained of, was between Selphie and Lance. Normally in a tournament, the two strongest participants would not be scheduled to meet so early, but Rinoa had hoped that Selphie would quickly eliminate him. Such was not the case as it turned out, with Lance constantly pummeling the green-eyed woman with a flurry of hits. To Rinoa's total dismay, Selphie appeared to be only landing one out of every five hits offered by the two of them. Luckily both of them were extremely well padded with protective equipment and Rinoa was gladdened to observe that for once, Selphie had eschewed wearing her yellow dress, but instead was attired in protective trousers, that resembled thermal outer wear.

Suddenly Lance struck a perfect hit and pulled Selphie's weapon right out of her hands. As it tumbled to the floor, Selphie stood in shocked silence. Lance, of course, had immediately discontinued his attack. He leaned down and picked up the nunchaku. Lance bowed from the waist towards Selphie and then held out _ Strange Vision _ to her in an offering to continue the match. Selphie bowed in return and then stepped back, effectively ending the competition.

_ Oh my God! What is she doing? _ Rinoa thought unhappily.

Rinoa's angst was a perfect indication of how far out of touch she had become in her quest to humiliate the man, who she mistakenly viewed as her husband's enemy. She, unlike any one else in the huge crowd, was unable to recognize that Lance had acted in an extremely honorable fashion and that Selphie had returned it. The spectators were almost completely silent as they instinctively realized how inappropriate applause and cheering would be at such a moment.

Of course, after that, the rest of the matches in that category were anticlimactic. Lance won in a cake walk. As Squall began to stand up, Lance caught his eye and offered a slight shake of his head. Squall understood immediately to forego the medal ceremony and sat back down. Rinoa sat bewildered and happen to lock eyes with Lance. She fully expected to see the scorn of arrogance in them, but instead observed an open honest gaze that appeared to offer the question, why? She suddenly experienced a sudden inexplicable rush of conflicting emotions and lowered her eyes to the table to break the painful contact.

Scheduled next was the firearms competition. Obviously the contestants would not be fighting with each other, but shooting at targets. During the festival planning there had been a lengthy discussion concerning this grouping, which had finally been punctuated by Squall informing them that no way was he going to allow live fire within the Garden. His reasoning was valid; there was always a danger of a wild shot or a chance ricochet endangering the crowd or damaging the structure of the Garden.

Next Selphie had taken the lengthy journey on the Ragnarok to Trabia to make a personal plea to the tech squad at the Garden there to solve the problem. The solution arrived at was quite simple, but also very sophisticated. The participants would use a weapon that was hooked to a computer program. They would aim and fire at a huge monitor, which would display the targets, exactly identical to the principles used in video game play. The contestants would not be tested with ordinary targets, but instead would be confronted with a quick series of images of monsters and enemy soldiers interspersed with innocent civilians. In addition, if the shooter did not respond in a split second, the program would register that they had been wounded or possibly killed. Naturally if this happened, it would negatively affect their overall score as well as shooting any innocents would.

There were so few experts with this particular type of weapon that instead of the usual pairings, every contestant would perform solitary one after the one. There were only five SeeDs entered in the event and of course Lance and Irvine were the only ones who counted as far as Rinoa was concerned. There was a drawing to decide the order of the participants because obviously the later the person performed the more advantage he or she would have due to already knowing how some of the other contenders had scored.

Rinoa almost groaned aloud when Lance drew the number five in the order. But on the other hand, she figured, Irvine had the fourth position and he would be the one for Lance to beat anyway.

_ Maybe Irvine will get a perfect score and it will put so much pressure on that - that person that he'll choke, _ Rinoa reasoned.

The first three entrants performed fairly well, drawing scores from the high eight hundreds to the low nine hundreds. Irvine was next in line and Rinoa had her fingers crossed and would have crossed her toes, if she could. Before stepping up to the line, Irvine removed his cowboy hat and long cattleman's coat, which he still wore constantly wherever he was. He then stepped up to the proper position and gave the signal that he was ready. The targets were flashing on the screen so quickly that Rinoa could barely perceive them before Irvine had successfully blown them away.

There were only a few targets left when disaster struck for the not so lonesome cowboy. Irvine shot a civilian right in the middle of the forehead! Rinoa couldn't help herself, but shouted, "Oh no!"

Irvine glanced at her and winked and still had enough time to finish off the last of the targets. _ He really is still so cool, _ Selphie mused. _ That's my hubby. _

This of course gave the former sniper a grand total score of nine hundred and ninety points. _ Maybe that will be enough, _ Rinoa prayed.

After Irvine had stepped back the line and regained his seat among the other participants, Lance stepped up to the line and coolly gave the signal to begin. Less than two minutes later, it was all over but for the applause. Lance had gained a perfect score. Stepping away from the line, he turned to his opponents and offered a slight bow. Lance this time caught Squall's attention and shook his head before the headmaster had even began to stand up.

Rinoa was seething at the show of what she considered to be phony gallantry, although she didn't utter a sound and this time made certain she had no eye contact with the man.

Rinoa's pessimism quickly disappeared when she realized the next grouping was hand to hand combat. _ No way in Hades will he ever beat Zell, _ she thought jubilantly.

The competition was considered open class. Any form of hand to hand combat was allowed, such as karate, judo, kung fu, jujitsu, and any combination thereof. Zell, for instance, fought with a combination of styles of his own invention. Obviously the contestants would not be attacking at full strength due to the great harm that could be afflicted on others. Instead the matches would be closely judged to determine if advantage had been gained or lost. There were three judges for this category, Squall, Xu, and the Shumi who had been gracious enough to serve as judge and referee for the Kendo match. Much to her outrage, Rinoa was not allowed to judge because of biasness. Even through her anger, she realized the truth of it and allowed, but only to herself, that it was probably best for all concerned if she didn't serve as a judge.

As much as possible, the combatants had been matched by their styles of fighting. The thing that had irked Squall the most about Zell being penciled in at the last moment was he was not scheduled to fight anyone in any of the rounds. Selphie didn't have the slightest idea if and when Zell might arrive and at Rinoa's encouragement, she didn't position him in the early rounds for fear he would forfeit. Therefore Zell's match would be against the winner of the actual scheduled final round, although now feeling greatly encouraged again, Rinoa hoped that Lance would be long gone from the contest by then.

Of course, such was not the case, as Lance breezed through the lower matches to the final round. Using a combination of different styles, he seemingly, to Rinoa, won by doing nothing. Actually Lance relied almost solely on defense to block or completely evade another's attack. At times he appeared almost to disappear, as he was that elusive to score a hit on. Lance also displayed great powers of anticipation, as though he was completely familiar with all styles of fighting and expected a certain attack before it occurred. Just at the right time, he would launch a strike and win the match, one to nothing. Only Squall among the vast personage realized the truth, that Lance was such an awesome warrior that he could have annihilated any opponent any time he so desired.

_ I've never seen anyone like him, _ the headmaster mused. _ And he thinks he can learn from me? _

Finally the moment arrived that Rinoa had been waiting impatiently for; Lance and Zell were facing each other, waiting for the signal to begin the match. Zell, as usual, could not contain himself, but was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. Lance, as a contrast to his ever excitable opponent, was standing completely relaxed. At the verbal signal from Squall, the match began.

Soon thereafter Rinoa watched aghast as she witnessed every attack Zell launched on the new transfer being blocked or dodged. Even when her old friend released his most powerful combinations, ones that had completely destroyed Sorceress Ultimecia, such as Different Beat and My Final Heaven, it appeared that Lance knew every step in advance as he easily moved out of the way. Just before time was going to run out on the match, Lance glided forward easily and lightly slapped Zell on one of his closed fists and won the competition, one to nothing. Zell fell to his knees in complete exhaustion. Looking up at Lance, he murmured, "You are the best fighter I have ever seen."

"Come now," Lance said, while pulling Zell up to his feet. "I learned all this from you."

Stunned for a second, Zell managed to ask, "What do you mean? You learned it from me?"

"I've studied you from tapes since I was eighteen years old. Surely you know that your style was held up as an example to all SeeDs everywhere?"

Zell blushed and replied, "No, I never dreamt of such a thing."

"So you see," Lance continued, "I had an unfair example, we both should share this medal."

And that's what happened. Squall presented both of them gold medals, while the crowd offered a spontaneous standing ovation. Rinoa wanted to gag. _ Why can't they see what a phony this guy is? _ she thought thoroughly frustrated.

There were only two competitions left to be held, as the afternoon had grown late - whips and then the warriors who were considered the elite of the Garden, the gunblade specialists.

The whip category was first. Naturally it would be very dangerous, if not criminal, to allow the participants to use their weapons on each other. Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa had developed a rather unique plan to solve the difficulty. Mannequins were to be set before each contestant separately. They were fully attired with tear-away clothing and the goal was to completely strip each artificial figure with their weapons as quickly as possible without damaging it in any manner. Besides the time element being of the utmost importance, points would be deducted in assessment by the judges of amount of damage done to the dummies. It would take the touch of a master to tear the garments without damaging the mannequins.

Naturally, per Rinoa's instructions, Selphie had placed Quistis and Lance head to head in the first round. The blonde haired woman was to go first. Selphie had informed Rinoa of her plan to provide Quistis a target of a specially made mannequin that resembled Lance. When two upper-classmen set the target up at the appropriate spot for Quistis to begin, the crowd gasped. There was no way they couldn't notice the resemblance to her opponent.

_ My God, _ Rinoa thought. _ It looks just like him! _

If Lance recognized the likeness, he made no indication. Squall on the other hand knew exactly what was going on and why. The intensely private man found himself wondering if it was past time to speak with Quistis or Selphie about attempting to talk some sense to Rinoa. Surely they couldn't feel the same way about Lance that his wife did. Squall suddenly felt a hard nudge from Rinoa interrupting his reverie. He glanced around and noticed everyone was waiting for him to give the signal to begin.

"Time," he called out.

The timing of the match was kept by Squall, who held a stopwatch at the judge's table. Quistis began her attack immediately. The contestants were allowed to move in any direction around the mannequin, as one would in an actual fight. It appeared to Rinoa that her blonde haired friend had not lost any of her skill with the weapon while serving as the headmaster of the Galbadian Garden, but on the contrary was more adept and deadly than ever. Quistis was snapping her weapon, _ Save the Queen_, with a quick strong, but ultimately delicate touch. At the end of her match, she had managed not to harm one particle of the dummy, while completely stripping it of its clothing. Rinoa was gratified to observe that Selphie had at least used some discretion and not made the model anatomically correct.

"Two minutes, fifteen seconds," Squall spoke.

After the applause from the crowd had died down, the same two upper-classmen brought out another mannequin for Lance's turn. Again the crowd gasped as it was an authentic replication of Rinoa.

_That's me! _ the Sorceress thought, _ I'm gonna kill that Selphie. _

Although after she thought about it for a moment, Rinoa decided that it might help throw Lance off his game somewhat, as he would be literally striking a model of his so called idol's wife. Squall grinned inwardly, realizing what the goal was and knowing that nothing would stop Lance from a peak performance. That much had become clear through his performance so far in the tournament.

"Time," Squall spoke quietly.

In less than ninety seconds, the match was over and decided. Lance had made short shrift of the mannequin's apparel, although it was still standing in pristine condition. Rinoa was chagrined to observe that in this case, Selphie had added the necessary secondary physical attributes to the dummy, although, thank God, not to an obscene degree.

_Oh my God! I really am gonna kill her now, _ the blushing Rinoa thought. Lance no longer had to compete head to head in any of the other matches unless someone bested his record. No one else came close to his or Quistis' time.

At this point, since the afternoon had already lengthened into what would have already been the Garden's dinner hour, Squall made no effort to present Lance his medal. Instead he stood and announced, "Gunblade competition will begin immediately."


	4. The Legacy Chapter Four

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Four

_Love me my Guinevere  
In my court, Please be near  
While our realm is dying  
And brave knights are crying  
Stay close by my side._

Lancelot felt no fear  
Loved his king's Guinevere  
All his love he gave her  
Fought through quests to save her Love, showing the way.

Guinevere  
Golden tresses shining in the air  
Spread against the Jasper sea.

Sorrow beheld her face  
False love supplying grace  
Knowing Arthur's fights  
And his trusted knights  
Meant more than his Queen.

Guinevere  
Golden tresses shining in the air  
Spread against the Jasper sea.

Love me my Guinevere  
In my court, Please be near  
While our realm is dying  
And brave knights are crying  
Stay close by my side.

Guinevere  
Golden tresses shining in the air  
Spread against the Jasper sea.   
By Rick Wakeman

Even though the hour had grown late in the day, the huge throng leaned forward in their seats in anticipation. This was the moment they had been waiting for, the competition of the select few - the gunblade specialists. It was so difficult a skill to learn that each Garden was fortunate if they had one master of it, much less two as Balamb Garden had. This naturally did not include Squall, who as headmaster rarely went on missions.

Needless to say, there were only two contestants and there wouldn't have even been a match held if Lance had not recently transferred because Squall would have naturally refused to participate. Rinoa sat with bated breath while Squall just hoped that it went smoothly so he could retire to his apartment for the evening and leave all this behind him.

The final match of the festival began. Lance's opponent was Kazuya, a mature SeeD in his early thirties, which appeared to the audience to place the contest on a somewhat more even footing. It was all but over as soon as it started; it was that obvious that Lance's skills were that much more advanced than the second best that the Garden had to offer.

Lance was all but sparring with the slightly younger man, while Kazuya was fighting in earnest. When Lance became lackadaisical for a second through a combination of his extreme fatigue due to having participated in every event in the tournament and his belief that no real danger was involved since the gunblades were only loaded with cap powder, his opponent pierced his guard for a split second and dealt him a smart blow along the rib cage.

What happened next was pure reflex on Lance's part; totally reacting without thinking, Lance stepped inside Kazuya's guard and dealt his opponent a savage blow on the breast causing Kazuya to drop like a rock to the floor. As the fallen man lay unmoving, Squall immediately turned to Xu and ordered her to call for the doctor. He had last been seen escorting Kasumi to the clinic after her match.

As Xu did as ordered pulling her cell phone off the waist band of her skirt and speaking into it, Squall stood and quickly crossed to Kazuya and Lance with Rinoa following silently behind him. She was white with shock.

Squall knelt down by the fallen man and spoke loudly, "Kazuya, are you okay?"

Not receiving a response, he attempted to take Kazuya's pulse at his wrist and failing at that, the headmaster placed two fingers cross-wide across his jugular. Slightly shaking his head, Squall reached out with both hands and tilted Kazuya's head back Listening for breath, Squall did not detect any and he began applying CPR.

In the meanwhile, the huge crowd had silently left their seats and were beginning to form a group on the floor surrounding the life and death struggle. Still not detecting any sign of life from the fallen SeeD, Squall continued endlessly, minute after minute. Some of the young women were beginning to weep. Rinoa had silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Lance stood in back, all but forgotten.

Squall's arms were beginning to feel leaden from applying the chest compressions. _When is that damn doctor going to get here? _ he wondered.

"Xu," Squall called out savagely, "Call the doctor again."

"There's no reason to, I'm right here," the doctor said, walking into the ballroom with one of his interns trailing behind.

Forcing his way through the crowd, he stepped up to Squall and the fallen SeeD. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"He's not breathing," Squall answered.

While Squall stood up to allow the doctor to weave his medical magic, the medico knelt down by Kazuya. After not detecting a pulse, he pulled his stethoscope out of the pocket of his long, medical coat. The doctor placed it over the patient's heart and listened intently for long seconds. Finally he straighten back up and took off his stethoscope and returned it to his pocket. The doctor then leaned over and closed Kazuya's eyes.

"This man's dead," he said.

"No, no, it can't be," Rinoa whispered.

The doctor stood up and complained irritably, "No one told me to bring the crash cart, you know."

It took all of the headmaster's willpower to not strike out at the dispassionate officer. In the meanwhile, Lance removed his helmet and placed it on the floor. With tears streaming down his face, he knelt on both knees next to the dead man. Leaning over, Lance cradled Kazuya's head with one hand and grasped one of his hands with the other. He pulled the SeeD's face up to his, and with his lips almost touching the other's, Lance began to emotionally murmur, "Live, live."

Squall stepped forward and placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. "Lance, Lance," he exclaimed. "Please stop it."

Paying absolutely no attention to the headmaster, he continued to chant while gripping Kazuya's hand so desperately, Lance's hand was turning while. Suddenly a deep shudder racked Kazuya's body and he resumed breathing.

"He lives," Rinoa gasped.

Squall stood transfixed in shock as Lance now clasped his opponent by his right hand. Kazuya looked up at him and smiled, although it was obvious that he was completely befuddled over what had happened. Lance slowly regained his feet, as if the experience had left him too in an exhausted condition. Rinoa gazed at him with wonderment in her eyes. As Lance turned, he looked up and returned the look with sudden longing.

Without removing her eyes from him, Rinoa dropped to one knee in front of him and held out her right hand. Taking it in his, Lance murmured, "No, no."

Rinoa shook her head almost violently and then cast her glance at the floor by his feet. Lance turned and stumbled from the ballroom, the crowd parted for him still not believing what they had just witnessed. Squall, with a sudden desperate fear in his heart, looked at Rinoa and then at Lance and then back to Rinoa once again.

……….

Squall sat wearily in front the doctor's large mahogany desk that held the nameplate 'Dr. Sanderson' upon it, Dr. Kadowaki having retired some years before. The headmaster had never been able to warm up to the tall, thin bespectacled doctor who had taken her place, but before today he had never had any complaint with any of his behavior.

As the doctor sat writing in Kazuya's file, Squall finally asked in a tired voice, "So what really happened out there, doctor?"

The doctor glanced up slowly and replied, "Excuse me if I'm speaking out of turn, headmaster, you appear exhausted yourself. Maybe we could do this in the morning?"

"No," Squall answered forcefully. "I want to know now - not in the morning. I have a responsibility for everything that happens in this Garden, and I need to know exactly what happened."

"Okay," he replied formally. "From what I could gather from witnesses, Lance struck Kazuya with such force that even though it was only with the flat-side of the gunblade, it stopped his heart."

"So why is he alive now?"

The doctor made a sharp tent out of his fingers and gazed at Squall over them. "You were there. I must have been mistaken. I thought he was dead and he wasn't."

"I know better than that, Dr. Sanderson. Kazuya wasn't breathing for at least an half an hour. Even if given, that he was resuscitated, wouldn't he have suffered severe brain damage?"

The doctor paused for quite a few seconds and then sighed. "I just finished running extensive tests on him and he appears to have suffered no damage of any kind."

"Okay," Squall responded brusquely, while throwing himself up from the chair in one violent move. "I expect to have your full report on this in the morning," he ordered and turned to leave.

From behind his back, Dr. Sanderson murmured, "Squall, it was a miracle. That's all, nothing more, nothing less - just a miracle."

Squall silently walked from the clinic.

……….

Selphie and Quistis sat arguing in the large guest room that had been assigned to Selphie and Irvine for the duration of their stay at the Garden. Rinoa sat silently in a large chair in the corner. Irvine was not present as he had gone to make certain that Lance had returned to his quarters safely, upon Selphie's insistence.

"I'm telling you, Quistis. He brought Kazuya back to life," Selphie spoke determined.

"Selphie," Quistis said patiently. "That's impossible, you know that."

"You were there too, so what do you think happened?" Selphie asked in an accusatory voice.

"I don't know what occurred, I only know that Kazuya could not have arisen from the dead."

"Let's ask Rinoa," Selphie suggested. "She was a lot closer than we were. What do you think Rinoa? Did Lance bring him back to life?"

Rinoa sat staring off into space. "Rinoa!" Selphie exclaimed.

As her eyes suddenly refocused, Rinoa glanced at the two women. "What?"

"I said, you were a lot closer than we were. What do you think happened?"

Rinoa continued to stare at them for a few seconds and then replied, "I'm sorry, I have some things to sort out. I'll talk to you in the morning, I'm going to my apartment."

The Sorceress then stood and without another word glided from the room.

"Now what's she so upset about?" Selphie demanded.

"Oh, Selphie," Quistis sighed, wondering if her friend was ever going to really grow up.

………

_What the heck has Selphie gotten me into now? _ Irvine wondered, as he watched Lance pace nervously in his small bedroom.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now," he offered.

That brought Lance to a sudden standstill. "Wait please, if you may?" he asked the surprised Irvine.

He and Lance had had nothing more than a nodding relationship previously. "Why sure," the cowboy answered politely.

"Many thanks," Lance responded formally and then appeared to Irvine to hesitate, before finally blurting out, "What does it feel like to be in love?"

_Oh Shiva, what have we got here? _ Irvine thought. _ What kind of question is that from a man his age? _

"Don't you know?" Irvine asked incredulously. "Haven't you ever been in love before?"

"No, I am chaste," Lance said simply.

"Wha?!"

"My physical powers are derived from my purity. Hyne grants it to me," the blond-haired man explained.

"That's rather a unique recipe," Irvine murmured. "Okay, you asked me to answer the unanswerable, but I'll give it a try. It's a passion, it's the strongest emotion on earth - it's stronger than hate, stronger than fear. Haven't you ever felt passionate about anything?"

"Oh yes, my love of God is very deep," Lance answered.

"Well, there you go, you do know what love is."

It was obvious even to Irvine that Lance was in great emotional pain and turmoil over somebody or something, when he suddenly cried out at last, "But what if your beloved already belongs to another?"

……….

Squall sat sprawled in a chair with his head lowered, appearing almost asleep, although Zell knew better. He realized his old comrade was deeply disturbed over something. Zell was repacking his things because he would be leaving in the morning with Quistis and returning with her to Galbadia Garden.

Not being able to tolerate the silence between them any further, Zell spoke, "You know Squall, it all turned out okay, if that's what you're worried about. Kazuya is fine, I spoke to him a few minutes ago and he doesn't even remember any of it from when Lance struck him."

When Squall made no response, the blond-haired man continued, "Squall, you look all done in. You should go to bed. Things will look better tomorrow."

Squall suddenly looked up and locked eyes with his friend. Zell almost jumped; never had he observed such an agonized expression on his old commander's face.

"What if you know someone has betrayal in their hearts, but they haven't acted on it yet?" Squall said, his voice thick with emotion. "Do I have the right to assume the worst and to act accordingly? Particularly when I'm Headmaster of this Garden - don't I have the responsibility to everyone, good or bad, to make the most civilized decisions that I can?"

Zell had never known Squall to speak this way and not comprehending any of it, he stood silently with pity in his heart for his old friend.

……….

Rinoa lay on the bed in her nightgown with her long dark hair spread across the pillow. The bedside lamp softly illuminated the room and she was attempting desperately to flee into the narcotic of sleep by purposely not ruminating on the disturbing events of the afternoon. Her body actually ached with her need for Squall.

_Where could he be? _ she worried.

As if with the prescience of a Sorceress' Knight, Squall suddenly slipped through the open door of their bedroom.

"Squall!" Rinoa exclaimed, suddenly surprised wide awake.

"Hush," he spoke. "No words tonight - please?"

Removing his clothes and dropping them on the bedroom floor, Squall slipped onto the bed while snapping off the bedside light. Husband and wife lay embraced for long moments, hugging each other tightly; then they lovingly joined. Later, Squall fell into much needed sleep. Beside him, tears silently ran down Rinoa's face.


	5. The Legacy Chapter Five

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Five

_Excalibur the sword of right  
Lancelot you rise a knight  
Many quests will soon be fought  
To win your place in Arthur's court._

Go to waste land if you dare  
Lure the Black Knight from his lair  
Fight and kill the evil man  
Rid his evil from our land.

Kneeling in prayer, Lancelot gave the knight  
Knowing to save the waste land he must fight  
Eager to kill all those who came his way  
He must stay  
He must fight  
The Black Knight, The Black Knight.

The dawn approaches, clearing sky  
Very soon a knight must die  
Black Knight towering on his horse  
Struck Lancelot with fearsome force.

Lancelot held fast his ground  
Then struck the Black Knight to the ground  
Leapt from his horse and then he smote  
A single thrust and pierced his throat.

Answer my prayers, help me to save this land  
Guide me by truth laid down by Arthur's hand  
Evil is gone, only good we shall see  
Victory  
In this land  
By God's hand  
By God's hand.   
By Rick Wakeman

It was a sad time for Rinoa when she bid her old comrades-in-arms adieu the next morning. She attempted to keep a cheerful face and to believe all the empty promises that were made concerning another visit very soon. Although as soon as they passed through the front gates, Rinoa began missing them immediately. It had been such a joy for her to be surrounded again by Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine. Rinoa tried to remember if it had felt this bad when Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine had transferred to other Gardens and was surprised that she couldn't recall. Of course back in those years, Selphie and Irvine had left first and it wasn't until much later that Quistis had transferred to Galbadia Garden to take over the reins as Headmaster.

The main difference, Rinoa realized with a pang of sadness, was that in those early years of her marriage she was utterly convinced she would soon be building a family of her own. Now all of her old friends had their own lives, separate from her and Squall. Selphie and Irvine held responsible positions in the Garden at Esthar and had three children. Quistis had a beau back at the Galbadian Garden, no doubt impatiently awaiting her return.

Rinoa wiped her tears from her face and turned to Squall. "I'm going to miss them, aren't you?"

"I've got work to do," Squall replied brusquely and turned and quickly walked away.

_So typical, _ Rinoa sighed.

For the next few days, practically all personnel made a concentrated effort to right the Garden back to its normal routine. Squall had already decided that never again would he allow a celebration of that magnitude. It just was too difficult to settle the upper-classmen back into their studies.

Events had been so chaotic for Squall in his attempts to restore order as quickly as possible that four days had passed before he realized he hadn't seen much of Lance. Squall wondered if he could have offended the man in some manner, although when he had asked him, Lance flushed and answered in the negative, that he had just been very involved with working with different committees on ways to improve the Garden's efficiency.

And yet Squall was left with the feeling that his new friend was being less than honest with him. _ But he can't lie, can he? His code of honor doesn't permit it, _ Squall reflected.

Finally the Garden had become settled enough for Squall to realize that it was past time to hold the ceremony for Lance's promotion to Commander, so he left him a note saying to meet him in his office at 14:00 hours on the following day.

Lance arrived promptly at 13:55 (he always reported everywhere five minutes early) and entered Squall's office, fully expecting to see the headmaster seated at his desk working on paperwork as he usually was. Instead he observed Rinoa standing by the window gazing out.

Flustered, he murmured, "Oh pardon my intrusion. I'm supposed to meet Squall here. I'll just wait outside."

Rinoa turned and smiled at him. "Oh that's okay, you're not disturbing me. Just wait in here, I'm sure he'll be along directly."

Both of them stood awkwardly staring at each other. "Lance, " Rinoa began, "I - uh… never mind."

"Rinoa, I love you," Lance suddenly cried out, his face a study in agony. "God have mercy on me, but I do."

"Then God have mercy on both of us," Rinoa replied emotionally.

The office was suddenly filled with Squall's presence, as he came hurrying in.

"There you are," Squall said. "Sorry, I got held up at a meeting with Xu. Tomorrow you will be conferred with the promotion to Commander."

When Lance began to protest, Squall continued, "Unfortunately it is outside of my jurisdiction to bestow Sainthood on you."

Moving through the office, Squall flung some papers down on his desk and then stepped to a sideboard. He opened a small liquor cabinet and brought out three goblets and a decanter of wine.

Pouring the wine into the goblets, and then handing one each to Lance and Rinoa, Squall then picked his up and said, "I think a small celebration is in order. Holding the goblet up in toast, the headmaster spoke, "Here's to three of us, who will see the Garden through to glory days together."

The three of them clicked their goblets softly and then took a drink. Squall noticed that both Lance and Rinoa appeared extremely flushed.

Lance said, "I have a new idea - ."

"If you gentlemen will excuse me, I'll leave you to your work," Rinoa interrupted. "In fact, I believe I'll go have a relaxing soak in the bath."

She placed her glass on Squall's desk and then began to make her way through the office.

"Rinny, I'll see you at dinner," Squall said.

"Good." _ That'll be a first for a long while, _ Rinoa thought as she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. Once outside in the hallway, Rinoa lowered her head into her hands in an attempt to pull herself together before her walk through the Garden.

_Did Squall hear us just before he came in? _ she thought in anguish. _ Oh God, what's going to become of us? _

……….

Squall was displeased that he had to cancel morning classes for Lance's ceremony, but it couldn't be helped. He desired full attendance of the Garden feeling that Lance deserved, at the very least, that much. The problem was that the ceremony would have usually been held in the evening after the dinner hour, but Squall had suddenly been summoned to appear before the World Government's Economic Department in Deling City to report on the Gardens' economic impact on their various localities. The wily headmaster had attempted to have Xu substitute for him, but they insisted on his presence.

At 11:00 hours, all students and SeeDs were present and accounted for, while standing in rank formation in the grand ballroom. Squall with Rinoa beside was standing in the very front of the room. He was attired in his dress uniform and Rinoa was resplendent in an ivory gown, her favorite color. At a nod from the headmaster, the ceremonial Sergeant of Arms pulled open the door and Lance strided in and up to the front. He too was wearing his dress uniform and he knelt in front of Squall.

Squall picked up _ Lionheart _ which was laying across a small altar, and while touching Lance softly with it on both of his shoulders, he intoned, "Lance Du Luc, in the name of God, Hyne, and the Garden, I bestow the rank of Commander on you for extraordinary performance of duty."

Placing _ Lionheart _ back on the altar, Squall offered Lance a rare warm smile, while the students and SeeDs broke into spontaneous applause.

Lance regained his feet and spoke formally, "My immense gratitude, headmaster, but I still think it's an honor I don't deserve this early in my duty at your Garden."

Before Squall could respond, Rinoa leaned slightly forward and said playfully, "Oh just shut up for once and take our congratulations."

A slight smile escaped Lance's lips, and Squall wondered, _ Since when did they get so friendly? Oh well, it's certainly for the best. _ And he pointedly ignored the twinge of doubt that ran through him.

……….

Lance tossed and turned on the slim mattress that lay on the floor of his small room. He had always felt that using a luxurious bed would be a weakening of his character. Normally the blond-haired man would drift immediately into sleep with a clear conscience, but tonight Lance had many emotions foreign to him running through his mind; although they all centered on one thing - the beautiful Rinoa. Try as he might, he could not rid his mind of the unwanted image of Rinoa standing in her ivory gown smiling at him.

Suddenly his door opened and Lance twisted on his bed to see who it was. Framed in the doorway with the soft lighting of the late night Garden behind her, stood Rinoa wearing a long diaphanous nightgown. She quickly entered the room and locked the door behind her.

Lance's mouth dried out at the sight of his beloved, and he was only able to murmur hoarsely, "Rinoa, why are you here? Squall -."

"Is still in Deling City and won't return until early morning," Rinoa interrupted.

"Are you certain?" Lance asked.

Rinoa realizing what his question actually implied responded, "More certain than I have ever been my entire life. Are you?"

Lance offered his answer by arising to his feet. Even in the dim light Rinoa observed Lance was only attired in a karate gi tied with a sash that left him inadequately covered from the waist down. He was blushing uncontrollably and amazed himself by continuing to stand upright.

"I see that you are," Rinoa said with a smile on her face. "Come to bed, my love," she directed, pulling him down to the pallet. "Promise me one thing," Rinoa spoke fiercely. "Squall must never know."

"It would be too horrible to contemplate," Lance agreed.

Plunging her mouth down on Lance's, she effectively ended further conversation. A few hours later, Rinoa extricated herself carefully from the arms of the sleeping Lance and arose quietly from the bed. Pausing at the door, she whispered, "Good night, my love." And then she was gone.

Lance who had been feigning sleep thought, _ God, help me. I have lost my purity and my heart. _

……….

The next morning Rinoa awoke late and hurriedly dressed and went off to search for Lance. Completely perplexed because she couldn't locate him anywhere and no one who she had spoken to had seen him also, Rinoa decided that he must currently be with Squall. Upon visiting Squall's office, Rinoa was even more mystified to find it empty. A twist of fear twisted her gut and the dark-haired woman continued on her quest finally discovering Squall out by the front gates. She was utterly dismayed to observe her object of affection climbing into a Garden vehicle and then quickly riding away.

Utilizing all of her skills, Rinoa attempted to maintain a normal façade as she asked, "What's going on? Where's Lance going?"

"Oh hi," Squall greeted, as he hadn't noticed his wife up until then. "He's going out on a mission."

Totally misunderstanding the look of unhappiness that crossed his wife's beautiful features, Squall said, "I know, I know. I tried to talk him out of it, but he seemed hell bent on leaving. It's a mission anyone could have done."

"Well, I'm certain he'll be fine and back in a few days," Rinoa responded in an attempt to regain her pretense of normalcy.

Relief flooded her as Squall answered, "Oh yeah, there's nothing dangerous about it. It's mostly diplomatic."

When his wife made no response, Squall explained, "I'll see you at lunch. I have to go run staff meeting."

And the headmaster leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before taking his leave. Public display of affection was highly unusual of Squall, to say the least.

"See you then," Rinoa responded weakly. _ Lance has run off because of me - because of us, _ she realized desolately. _ I wonder if he'll ever return. _

……….

Four long days passed slowly for Rinoa. Lance was constantly on her mind and she wondered how he was. She longed to feel his arms around her again and his lips on her's. Squall was very busy as usual, but it seemed to Rinoa that he was attempting to spend more time with her and was much more affectionate.

_I wonder if he suspects something. No, he couldn't! It's not possible, I won't allow it. _

Consequently the Sorceress was overjoyed to observe Lance walking into the cafeteria during dinner hour the following evening. It took him forever in Rinoa's opinion to cross the crowded cafeteria to where she and Squall were seated; Lance had become that popular a figure in the Garden since the tournament. Everyone wanted to speak to him and touch him if possible. Rinoa recognized it to be almost a religious attraction with them. She was of two minds; Rinoa felt pride in Lance and was piqued because Squall was now all but forgotten. Of course the headmaster's wife realized he much preferred it that way.

Finally reaching their table, Lance stood at attention and spoke in formal tones, "Reporting back from mission, Headmaster."

"Sit down, Lance, please," Squall replied.

After Lance had seated himself at the table, Squall asked, "How'd it go?"

"First, we - ."

"Wait," Squall interrupted. "Let's go over this in my office after you've gotten something to eat."

Since the headmaster had finished his dinner and Rinoa was still dining, Squall pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. "If you all will excuse me, I have some paperwork to finish so I can call it an early night."

As Squall strided away, Lance said, "It's good to see you again, Mrs. Leonheart."

"Knock it off," Rinoa hissed at him. "Every SeeD calls me Rinoa, much less a commander like you are."

Rinoa glanced at the nearest tables and noticed the occupants were leaning forward attempting to discern any snatch of conversation they could between the headmaster's wife and the Garden's latest hero and she bestowed a gracious smile on them.

"You're angry with me?" Lance said lowly.

"Angry? I'm not angry, I'm pissed," she whispered so as to not be overheard. "How dare you go off without telling me goodbye or that you were going somewhere on a mission."

As Lance sat completely stunned, never having suffered Rinoa's ire previously, she stood up and spoke graciously, "So good to see you again, Lance. Do drop by sometime and say hello."

The headmaster's wife then proceeded to sashay out of the cafeteria, as the new commander sat completely dumbfounded behind her.

……….

Lance's heart was pounding in his chest as he lay upon his thin mattress. Never before in his life had he suffered such confusion. He was in agony that Rinoa wasn't going to make an appearance, although he passionately hoped she wouldn't for the sake of the three of them, in particular, Squall. Something finally happened that Lance thought impossible and he slipped into sleep.

He awoke suddenly with a start of fear. Rinoa was standing beside his bed.

"Rinoa, I'm so - ."

"We don't have long," she interrupted. "Squall just fell asleep. I don't want to tarry but a short while."

Lance stood up from his pallet and Rinoa couldn't help but notice he had forgone the wearing of his gi.

"Hmm," she spoke throatily, "Someone had changed their sleeping attire."

She rubbed her hand gently on his upper physique. Lance was blushing furiously, although he reached out and slipped Rinoa's nightgown off her shoulders and down to the floor. They passionately embraced without a sound.


	6. The Legacy Chapter Six

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter six

Events of the next few months later passed into the annals of the Garden as the adventures of Lance Du Luc. He was away on missions far more often than he was present at the Garden and all of his assignments were successful, some of which were of a most delicate and secretive manner. In fact Lance was gone so much of the time that SeeDs began to speak of his prolonged absences and wonder if he was unhappy with someone or something at the Garden.

Once to Rinoa's great anxiety, Lance disappeared during the night and even Xu hadn't known of it, when the headmaster's wife questioned her. She knew not to ask Squall about it, because it was common practice for SeeDs to disappear on top secret missions in that fashion and it might raise his suspicion if she were to particularly ask about Lance.

_Besides, _ Rinoa realized ruefully, _ he wouldn't tell me anyway. _

The Sorceress received her answer a few days later when she opened the Balamb morning paper at her breakfast table and observed a huge frontpage headline announcing that the top ganglord in Deling City had been discovered mysteriously slain in his bedroom. The article went on to relate that The Black Knight, a moniker given him by the media, had resided in a supposedly impregnable mansion with bodyguards on every floor and no one had the slightest idea how it was accomplished. Rinoa couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the mission of assassination and worry if Lance had been able to escape after.

That night Rinoa lay wide awake far into the night. She couldn't sleep but for thinking and that rumination was circular always ending in the same place.

_Is it possible to love two men at the same time? I don't care what 'they' say, I know you can, because I do. Squall is the most handsome man I have ever known and I love him deeply. Lance is unattractive at best…but he has the most beautiful brown eyes and the touch of his hands sends shivers through me. It's not as though Squall is the most affectionate man alive either, _ Rinoa thought laying beside her loudly snoring husband.

_And Lance desires me, while Squall loves me. _ A sudden insight struck her. _ At my age, being found desirable is more important than just being loved. Of course, to be fair to Squall, he has a thousand and one responsibilities and comes to bed exhausted every night. _

_But whose fault is that? We haven't been on a real vacation for years. Okay, that settles it. If he agrees to go away somewhere, I'll give Lance up…no matter how painful it is. _

……….

The next day during breakfast Rinoa broached the subject. "Squall, I want to go away somewhere."

"Huh? Oh, okay, where are you going?" asked her confused husband.

"No, no," Rinoa responded angrily. "Not me, us. I want us to go away somewhere."

"Oh, that's different," Squall replied, raising his wife's hopes. "We can't."

Attempting to keep her voice at a conversational level despite her increasing frustration, because after all they were in the cafeteria, Rinoa spoke, "Why not? We haven't been on a vacation for years and years. You remember the word, right? Va-ca-tion? Everyone else who works here takes four weeks leave a year and you don't even take a day off. You must have over a thousand hours of vacation by now."

"Actually it doesn't roll over and you lose all you haven't used at the end of each year," Squall interrupted.

_Oooh! He makes so mad! _ Rinoa thought. "Why can't we?"

"Why can't we what?" Squall asked further confused.

Speaking very plainly and slowly to control her rising anger, Rinoa asked, "Why can't we go away somewhere for a few days?"

"Because a delegation is coming from that planned community outside of Winhill to discuss a Garden being built there and I have to meet with them."

"Xu could do that," she contradicted.

"No, she can't," Squall disagreed. "This is important and I have to deal with it."

"There's always something important for you to do, isn't there Squall?" Rinoa spoke softly, her anger now turned to resignation.

Misunderstanding the look of immense sadness on his wife's face, Squall offered, "Why don't you get away with someone else for a few days. I think it would do you a world of good." _ And me too, _ the headmaster thought.

"Yeah, I think I might," Rinoa replied dryly.

……….

Two mornings later, Rinoa discovered that Lance had returned to the Garden from his mission. She had just left the cafeteria after eating a solitary breakfast; Squall had had something important to do, she couldn't even keep track anymore. As Rinoa reached the atrium from the cafeteria corridor, she suddenly saw him standing in front of her and almost fainted from surprise and happiness. Never one to let her men know what she was really thinking, Rinoa spoke, "Look who's decided to drop by, have you spoken to Squall yet about your secret mission?"

Lance answered tersely, "Yes." He was obviously hurt by Rinoa's sarcasm.

Speaking softly, Rinoa said, "I need to talk to you, can you meet me outside just before noon?"

"I guess so," he spoke haltingly, obviously confused by the request and his lover's mercurial moods.

Suddenly speaking at a normal tone, Rinoa said, "So good to see you back safe, Lance. You must dine with Squall and me tomorrow night."

And then with a quick wink of her right eye, Rinoa walked on. Behind her, Lance stood stock still as though he was rooted in the floor.

……….

At five minutes to twelve, Rinoa was waiting impatiently for Lance to make his appearance out on the grounds surrounding the Garden. She had chosen this time because most everyone would be busy eating lunch, although there were a few scattered students sitting outside and talking; apparently forgoing lunch for various reasons. It was a blazing hot day in late August and the dark-haired woman was already beginning to perspire. At long last, in her opinion, although it had only been a few moments, Lance came walking out of the Garden.

Rinoa said, "At last! Come over here away from those students. As she and Lance walked away around the side of the Garden, she asked, "Why do you have to go away so often?"

"It is necessary," Lance answered.

"That's what I need to talk to you about," she explained. "Do you have any family?"

"What?" he asked, momentarily confused at the quick change of subject.

"Family, family," the dark-haired woman responded impatiently. "Do you have any family?"

"Of course I have family."

"Where are they?"

"This time of day? Work, I imagine," Lance replied.

_Oh Hyne! Are all men this dense? _ Rinoa thought. "No, I mean where are you from?"

"Oh, Centra."

"Then that's where we're going," Rinoa explained.

"We can't go away anywhere, I'm quite sure Squall wouldn't allow it."

"Well, he said that I could go away for a few days with a friend," she teased.

"I'm certain he didn't mean me," Lance said seriously.

"Why do I always attract such serious men? I'm just teasing, maybe opposites do attract. I know I can act frivolously at times."

"In our case," Lance spoke, "it would be Beauty and the Beast."

For a second, Rinoa was taken aback and then she replied, "Oh, I can't believe it. You made a joke, didn't you?"

Lance nodded sheepishly. "I bet it was your first one ever," the dark-haired woman commented. "Your delivery is a little off. After your next mission, can you ask for a few days off to go visit your family in Centra?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he answered doubtfully.

"Good, they can drop you off there with the Ragnarok. I'm gonna go to Deling City and I'll travel to Centra by military transport. Even retired, my father still has that much pull."

"What if Squall calls for you?" asked Lance.

"I doubt it will even cross his mind to, but if he does - my father will cover for me. He never really liked Squall very much, or the Garden for that matter. So it's a plan?"

"Okay," he agreed slowly.

Taking his hand in her's, Rinoa murmured, "I love you so much. I'll be counting every second until we're alone together in Centra. I'll go in first, talk to you later."

Dropping his hand gently, the Sorceress turned and walked back into the Garden.

……….

Unfortunately for Rinoa, the next mission charged to Lance was to lead a month long training assignment in the Grandidi Forest with upper-classmen who were preparing for their final exams. While Rinoa chafed with impatience for the return of her lover, there was one joyous occasion for her. Zell was attached back to their Garden for the next six months. He was going to fill in as a full instructor in hand to hand combat for a female instructor who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy.

Rinoa had always held Zell in a special place in her heart for his sincerity and his naïve excitability. Also the blonde haired man had always been very supportive of the relationship between she and Squall. Rinoa had felt badly that the relationship between Zell and the pigtailed girl hadn't worked out. Everyone had assumed after the destruction of Ultimecia that they would end up together, but it turned out that both of them were too passive and indecisive. When the pigtail girl finally understood that Zell would never make a move, she requested a transfer to Trabia Garden. Quistis had since informed Rinoa that Zell's erstwhile girlfriend was now head librarian at Trabia Garden. She had married and had two children who also wore pigtails; luckily both were girls.

Rinoa hadn't realized Zell had returned (of course Squall hadn't thought to tell her), until she walked into the cafeteria one lunch time and was surprised, to say the least, to observe him stuffing one hot dog after another into his mouth and inbetween talking to adoring students who were standing around the table.

She quickly crossed to his table and pushed her way through his fans. "Zell!" she exclaimed. "When did you get back?"

Delight crossed his handsome features as he looked up and observed Rinoa. "Just yesterday," Zell explained. "Sit down, Rinoa. Somebody help her with a chair."

Six pairs of hands reached out for a chair so quickly, Rinoa realized it was a wonder they didn't help her take a seat on the floor. "Thank you," she murmured as she finally managed to gain the chair.

"How have you been?" she asked.

"Great, as usual. Have you seen Lance around?" Zell asked.

Surprised, Rinoa flushed and then stammered, "Lance…uh…he's on a month long training mission. Why?"

Zell noticed that Rinoa appeared embarrassed about something and he wondered why. "I've decided that I would like to have him instruct me in some other fighting disciplines. Do you think he would be willing?"

"I think it's a little late for you to start using a gunblade," she responded jokingly.

Zell laughed and remarked, "You've turned into quite the little cutup since I've been gone. No, I was wanting to learn Kendo and then after that, maybe the whip. You know the more things I could become qualified to teach, the more money I could make."

"Spoken like a true mercenary," Rinoa commented. "I imagine he would be more than willing to teach you. Zell, why don't you drop by our apartment after dinner - about seven? Although chances are, it'll just be me. Squall always seems to be busy," she sighed.

"You two having problems?" Zell asked seriously.

"Oh, no more than usual. You know Squall - Mr. Workaholic."

"Do you want me to say something to him?"

"Oh God no, he'd just get mad and he would know that it was initiated by me, but thanks just the same," Rinoa replied. "See you at seven?"

"Right on!" Zell exclaimed.


	7. The Legacy Chapter Seven

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Seven

Rinoa stepped down carefully from the jeep with the help of the military driver. "Thank you so much," she smiled at him. "I'll be fine from here," Rinoa explained, while reaching back into the jeep and pulling out her small travel bag.

The dark-haired woman turned and walked up the sidewalk to the Najin Inn. The young driver stood and watched Rinoa's graceful form before climbing back into the jeep. _ Hmmm, she's got a little age on her, but she's still hot, _ he thought lustfully. _ But what is Rinoa Leonhart doing in this Godforsaken little town? _

It was bitter cold out, despite being only late October and Rinoa shivered in her fur lined winter coat. The wind whistled endlessly off the nearby sea and across the still mostly barren countryside. Pushing open the Inn door, Rinoa stepped into the lobby and then up to the front counter. She was relieved to not observe Lance anywhere because she had specifically instructed him to sign in first and then wait for her in the room.

Rinoa smiled at the middleaged desk clerk and said, "Room seven, please." Rinoa had handled it all, making the room reservations well in advance.

Taking the room key, she waved off the bellman and headed down the first hallway to the right. Stopping in front of room seven, Rinoa knocked gently upon the door. When nothing happened and she didn't hear any noise from within, she thought sardonically, _ Oh great, he's afraid to open the door. _

"Lance," Rinoa spoke in a stage whisper, "It's me, Rinoa. Open the damn door."

The door immediately opened and Lance stood before her. Rinoa realized that her supposition had been correct; he had been standing by the door the entire time. Rinoa thrust her bag into Lance's hand and, then after making certain there was still no one in the hallway, she stepped quickly into the room; and then into Lance's waiting arms, as he had dropped the bag to the floor.

"Been waiting long?" she murmured.

"Just a few hours."

"Of course the Ragnarok is much faster than military transport, and I was coming all the way from Deling City," Rinoa said.

"How's your father?" Lance inquired.

"Oh he's okay," she answered automatically. "Wait a minute, why do you want to know - you know my father?"

"Surely, I had dealings with many officials when I was Headmaster of Trabia Garden," Lance answered.

Rinoa giggled and said, "I'll have to remember to ask him what he thought of you."

When Lance began to protest, Rinoa took him by the hand and suggested, "Come to bed."

……….

"Come on man, you've got to lighten up some," Zell implored, while pacing back and forth in Squall's large office. Squall, as usual, was seated at his desk and perusing paper work.

Paying no attention that the headmaster had totally ignored him, Zell attempted another tack. "You've done enough for today. Come on, let's go do something."

Squall sighed and pushed himself away from his desk. "You're worse than Rinoa," he retorted.

"Speaking of which, what are you thinking about - sending her away without you?"

As if in answer, Squall affixed Zell with a deadly glare. His entire countenance bespoke of treading no further on that particular subject.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Zell responded. "It quit frightening me years ago."

A small smile crept across Squall's lips. "You know me too well," he said. "I didn't send her away, she wanted to go."

"I don't believe that for a moment," Zell replied. "I bet she begged you to go away with her somewhere."

"Well, it couldn't be helped," Squall said with a sigh. "I had to be here for that delegation." After remaining silent for a few seconds, Squall spoke again, "Does Rinoa seem any different to you?"

"Different, how do you mean different?"

"Oh, I don't know. The midnight staff reported that they had observed her wandering in the halls several times late at night," Squall explained.

"And I bet you didn't ask her about it, did you?"

"No, of course not," the headmaster replied. "I have to allow her some privacy, you know."

Zell suddenly reached over and snatched the phone off Squall's desk. "Here man," he said holding the phone out. "Call her and see how she's doing."

Squall pushed the phone away. "I don't want to, let her call me if she misses me so much."

"Okay, then I'll call her," Zell vowed. "Give me the number."

"Get it yourself," Squall retorted, while pushing the rolodex on his desk over to him.

Zell flipped it open to the C's and immediately located the number for General Caraway. "You're nothing if not predictable," Zell muttered while dialing the number. Listening through the interminable whistles, bleats, and bells of the antiquated phone service, Zell finally heard a young woman's voice at the other end of the line.

"Caraway residence," she said.

"Yes, hello, could I please speak with Rinoa?" Zell asked.

"Who?" the voice sounded suddenly doubtful.

"Rinoa, Rinoa Leonhart," Zell spoke impatiently.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rinoa is not here."

"Oh come on, I know she's there!" he exclaimed frustrated.

Suddenly Zell heard what must have been a commotion at the other end of the line and then a man's voice said harshly, "This is General Caraway. Who is this?"

"Thank Hyne," Zell muttered. "This is Zell Dincht and I'm trying to reach Rinoa."

"Rinoa? Rinoa's sleeping, call back another time." And the phone line was abruptly disconnected.

Zell looked at Squall who was smirking at him as if to say, _ See? I told you so. _ "Well, I see that General Caraway is as rude as ever," Zell said although he suddenly felt disquieted. _ What the hell was that confusion all about? _ he wondered.

……….

Stepping outside of the Inn the next morning, Rinoa realized the nasty weather had broken somewhat. Although the temperature was still cold, it was clear out and the wind had disappeared completely. This time, having learned her lesson the day before, she was actually overdressed with a hood and many scarves besides her winter coat.

_Oh well, at least it will help disguise me some, _ Rinoa mused, although she thought it highly unlikely that anyone in this obscure village in the middle of Centra would recognize her.

Lance appeared bemused by Rinoa's latest fashion statement and he coyly asked, "Warm enough?"

"Haha, very funny," Rinoa teased in return. "As a matter of fact I'm quite comfortable."

"Good," he replied, while taking her by the hand. "Because we have quite a walk to reach my parents' residence."

Observing Rinoa's frustrated expression, Lance offered quickly, "Unless you want to take a taxi."

"I'm quite capable of walking, you know," she replied firmly. "And don't tell me they have a taxi in this one Chocobo town."

"We have one taxi," he said stiffly. "There has to be some sort of public transportation."

"Don't get petulant, it ill becomes you," Rinoa smiled at him. "Now do you remember my name?"

Lance suddenly looked sheepish and slightly shook his head. Rinoa laughed and spoke, "I didn't think so. It's Gwen, okay?"

"Yes Gwen," Lance dutifully answered. Rinoa laughed again and this time it sounded as beautiful music to Lance's ears.

……….

It was all too quickly time to say good bye to Lance and begin her arduous journey back to Deling City and then on to the Garden. Lance's parents had turned out to be a sweet, slightly confused, older couple; everything her father wasn't and Rinoa had been entranced with them. Realizing somewhere deep inside of her that a chapter had closed and that her life would never again be as happy as the last two days had been, Rinoa stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed Lance on the cheek good bye. Climbing back into the same jeep from two days previous, Rinoa rode away without looking back.

Two hours later, she disembarked from the vehicle and still gripping her travel bag, crossed to where a helicopter was waiting for her. Stepping up into it, Rinoa was horrified to observe Irvine already seated and staring at her in surprise.

……….

"I'm telling you Selphie, it was downright weird," Irvine said. He had just arrived at their home in Esthar. It was early evening and Selphie was bustling in the kitchen to provide her husband a late supper.

"What was she doing there? Did she ever say?"

"That's another thing that was strange," Irvine elaborated. "She was saying something about a secret meeting of some sort, but she never said what it was for. I still don't know if it had something to do with the Garden, or with Deling City."

"Deling City? Why would she be doing something for them?"

"I have no idea," Irvine answered. "But when we arrived there, Rinoa was met by one of General Caraway's staff."

"Hmmm," Selphie said thoughtfully. "I certainly can't picture Squall sending her by herself on a secret mission."

"Hehe," Irvine replied. "I can't either. She messes up everything she's ever had to do by herself."

"Irvine!" Selphie complained. "That's mean."

"Well, maybe so, but you have to admit it's the truth."

When Selphie offered no response, Irvine continued, "But the worse thing about it was how scared she looked the entire time. I don't know why Rinoa would be so frightened of me."

"Maybe she was just worried that you had seen her on her assignment - I mean if it was that hush-hush," Selphie suggested.

"I don't know - maybe," Irvine answered doubtfully.

"I'm gonna call Xu and see if I can wheedle any information out of her about this," Selphie said.

"That's a good idea," Irvine agreed. "And you know Zell's there right now too."

"Zell! Oh no, he's so ham fisted that by the time he discovered anything, everybody in the Garden would know about it."

Irvine laughed and said, "Now who's being mean?"

"Oh you," Selphie smiled at her husband. "Sit down, dinner's almost ready." 


	8. The Legacy Chapter Eight

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Eight

Early winter struck in the beginning of November, seemingly slowing missions practically to a standstill. It was the same every year, almost as though all the countries in the world made a conscious decision to take time out from their usual lies and deceit for the celebration of the Solstice. The longer Lance remained at the Garden, the more people began to notice finding him and Rinoa together in out of the way places. Nothing inappropriate was ever witnessed, but there was always an almost overpowering feeling present that something private had been interrupted. And the rumors began to be whispered.

By early December the affair had become an open secret in the Garden with Squall being practically the only person who hadn't heard something about it. Even Zell had finally tumbled to the truth and it was then that he ruefully remembered Squall's questioning him regarding Rinoa and the confusion surrounding his telephone call to Rinoa and realized she probably had not even been present in Deling City at all. Although the blond-haired man hadn't the slightest idea of how to proceed, he instinctively realized approaching Squall was out of the question and Rinoa even more so. Zell had been procrastinating with asking for assistance from any of his former comrades feeling he would be betraying Squall and Rinoa's trust should he do so when an event occurred that was so bizarre, he felt duty bound to ask for help.

It happened during staff meeting on the Monday morning in the first week of December. By happenstance, Zell had been asked to attend to go over some of his new teaching curriculum as he ordinarily wasn't present at staff meetings. Xu and Lance were the other personnel attending, besides Squall when the door to his office was thrown open and a young man arrived unannounced.

The intruder appeared to be around eighteen years of age and was incredibly handsome, although his looks were cold and austere, almost as if he were a living statue. He was slightly taller than average and had a beautifully proportioned physique. His face was surrounded by long blond hair in ringlets and he had the clearest blue eyes any of them had ever seen.

The room was a frozen tableau for a long second and then Zell complained, "Hey! What the hell?"

Lance was already standing in order to protect the headmaster if need be when the young stranger spoke. "Aren't you going to say hello to your only son?" he asked. "Don't you recognize me, father?"

Before Squall could respond, Lance had began to move toward the intruder, supposedly to physically eject him from the office and Xu was speaking into her cell phone, in preparation of calling for security.

Suddenly Squall exclaimed, "No, leave him alone. He's right, this is my son."

Shocked silence fell over the room, leaving Lance and Xu frozen in the middle of their tasks. Before anyone could think of anything to say, Squall asked everyone except for the young man to leave and Lance, Xu, and Zell quickly exited.

"Have you come to stay or is this just a visit, Mordred?" Squall asked.

"It's insipidly good here, isn't it?" declared the young man, whose name was apparently Mordred.

Squall was taken aback for a few seconds and then finally answered, "Why, I hadn't really thought of it that way, but yes - I suppose we try to do the best we can."

"Looks damn boring to me," Squall's son replied disdainfully.

Squall stood up and said, "Let's get you a room and I'll introduce you around."

"Why did you not declare me your son and invite me to be a student at the Garden once you were convinced of my existence?" Mordred inquired.

"I fully meant to," Squall equivocated, "but the time never seemed quite right."

"You mean you never thought the Lady Rinoa would be unable to deliver you a legitimate heir, don't you?" the young man sarcastically responded.

"That is not for you to speak of!" snapped the headmaster.

"Oh pardon me, your majesty," Mordred riposted while bowing mockingly.

"Just simple father will suffice for a name for me, Mordred," Squall advised. "How is your mother?" the dark-haired man continued.

"Oh, don't act like you care," Squall's son responded. "She told me the entire story. I know you were tricked and never even knew you had made love to her until much later."

"Come," Squall directed the young man while leading him from the office.

In the time it took for Squall to obtain a room for his son and introduce him to some of the upper-classmen, the news of Mordred traveled through the entire Garden like wildfire. Consequently by the time Squall found the opportunity to go apprise Rinoa of the situation, she had already heard every shocking detail, which was unfortunate for the both of them.

Squall immediately recognized the situation when he entered their bedroom and observed the anger flashing in Rinoa's beautiful eyes.

"I take it that you've already heard," Rinoa's husband began unnecessarily, but he realized he needed to say something even if it sounded inane.

"Yes!" snapped the ebony-haired beauty. "But why did I need to hear this from one of the girls who works in the library? How humiliating!"

"I'm sorry," Squall responded. "So very sorry."

"Well, you should be!" Rinoa was not about to let her husband off that easily. "Why did you never tell me about this?" she demanded angrily.

"Well, I was hoping someday that we might…," Squall spoke haltingly.

"Oh no!" the sorceress protested. "You're not gonna blame this on me. Whether or not I could conceive a child had nothing to do with you whoring around behind my back."

"Rinoa, this happened before we were married."

"I suppose then you're totally innocent, is that what I'm supposed to believe? You led me to believe that you were a virgin when we got married."

"I was, I mean I thought I was," Squall replied.

"Oh please Squall. You _ thought _ you were a virgin! You expect me to believe that you helped conceive a child and didn't even know it?"

Squall began to become angry. "That's exactly what I expect you to believe because that's exactly what happened."

"Bullshit, Squall! A three-year-old wouldn't believe that cock and bull story."

Squall whirled and angrily left the bedroom slamming the door behind him. And that was the last words husband and wife spoke for quite a long time.

That night Lance tossed and turned on his solitary pallet futilely attempting to slip into sleep. At two o'clock by the Garden clock, he slipped out of bed and stood indecisive for long minutes. The lonely man finally sighed realizing that he could not escape his passion or his fate. He walked toward the door and pulled it open. Rinoa was in the hallway, her long dark-hair hanging down around her beautiful features, clad only in a transparent nightgown standing in her bare feet. Lance audibly moaned to see the object of both his affection and his guilt racked conscience. Rinoa slipped into the room pulling the door shut behind her. Lance pulled her to him and filled her up with his embrace. They stood quietly like that for a long time before finally moving to the bed.


	9. The Legacy Chapter Nine

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Nine

Things went on almost the same at the Garden. Assignments were given, missions were fulfilled, and money was made. Almost the same except for the fact that Squall had spent every night bunking in Zell's room since the last time he had spoken to Rinoa and Rinoa spent almost every night with Lance. Zell had finally decided that the entire situation had reached disastrous proportions and he had contacted both Selphie and Quistis with the dismaying news. Both of them were shocked and saddened to learn of the troubles of their old friends and had agreed to visit the Garden in two weeks time in the guise of celebrating the Solstice in their old home.

One day a couple of weeks later as Rinoa passed him in the corridor, Mordred paused and questioned, with a touch of mocking subservience in his tone, "Pardon me, Lady Rinoa, but did my father tell you of how I came to be conceived?"

Rinoa flushed, but managed to reply in a barely civilized tone, "If you mean that cock and bull story about not even remembering it, yes he did. And don't call me Lady Rinoa! I am not royalty."

"I'm so sorry, I had heard you were once a princess. I suppose I was mistaken. You are my father's wife, shall I call you mother?"

"No, you may not!" the ebony-haired woman angrily exclaimed. "Are we finished here? I have somewhere to be," riposted Rinoa as she began to push by the vile creature.

"A thousand pardons, Ms. Heartilly-Leonhart, but just for your information - the story is true. My mother gave my father a strong sleeping draught and then managed to stimulate him in his sleep, not a difficult task at his age I would imagine and then climbed up on him and raped him."

Shocked, Rinoa stopped dead in her tracks. "Why on earth would she do that?" questioned the headmaster's wife.

"Why, to have a child with him of course," snickered Mordred and then he turned and went down the corridor leaving Rinoa standing with her mouth agape.

……….

Squall was seated behind his large desk that behooved his position as headmaster of the Garden, although he still preferred not to be addressed as such. He felt as though he wasn't old enough or had acquired enough wisdom to be truly considered a headmaster. The desk was covered with files and papers of every description as he truly hated paperwork and always procrastinated until the last minute. When a knock was heard upon his door, Squall called out carelessly while continuing to sign papers at a record pace.

"Come on in, the door's open."

When the brown-haired man looked up as the door opened and observed his beautiful wife enter his office, totally surprised he set his pen down and greeted her.

"Come sit down," Squall suggested.

"No, I shan't stay long, Squall. I know you're busy."

She stepped forward and stood in front of her husband's desk. "I just came to say I'm sorry and I apologize for not believing your story. A wife should have more faith in her husband than I have shown recently."

"That's okay, Rinoa," Squall murmured. "You can hardly be blamed for not believing something as cockeyed as that story is."

"So you'll be moving back into our bedroom?" the headmaster's beautiful wife invited.

"Oh, I don't know, Rinoa," Squall responded, his eyes searching hers in an attempt to discover the truth. "Maybe I should stay away for awhile," the morose man continued, as he plainly saw the pain and shame of some dark secret evident in her beautiful ebony eyes.

"Yes, perhaps you should," his wife agreed, suddenly realizing that Squall had somehow glimpsed her guilt.

Rinoa began to weep as she watched the sadness and confusion cross Squall's handsome features and she fled his office in shame.

……….

Shortly thereafter another knock came upon Squall's door. This time he shouted out, "Whatever it is, can it wait until I'm through in here?"

The door opened and Mordred stuck his head into the office. "Hey, you got a minute?"

"What?!" Squall barked.

"I mean," the young man corrected himself, "do you have a minute, sir?"

"Yes, I do son. Come on in," the normally taciturn man tenderly invited. "And please don't think I'm being a prig on insisting you call me sir. Everyone else has to and there should be no unearned privilege here at the Garden."

Closing the door and crossing quickly to Squall, Mordred asked, "So is making love to your wife an earned or unearned privilege?"

Enraged, Squall leapt to his feet and slammed his fist down on his desk. "Just what are you implying? And you better have some hard evidence to back up this scurrilous innuendo."

"Oh, nothing sir," the young man replied. "Just some silly curiosity on my part. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"No trouble at all," the headmaster spoke munificently, now that the immediate threat had passed.

While stepping out around his desk, Squall reached out and squeezed his son's right shoulder hard.

"Ow!" Mordred complained.

"We need to toughen you up," Squall laughed, "if you are to lead the Garden someday."

"Oh, is that my destiny, sir?" questioned Mordred, with irony evident in his voice.

"It is if I have anything to say about it. Come, let's get some supper."

……….

The night air was quite cold and Mordred shivered in his waiting, despite his winter coat. He was nervous that his absence would be noticed, despite his easy success at sneaking past the guards on his way out of the Garden. The young man was peering intently into the darkness, but could not see nor hear anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly a voice arose from behind his right shoulder.

"Looking for me?"

It took all of Mordred's will power to not scream out in surprise, but he finally managed to gasp, "Why are you late?"

"Relax, everything's under control," a tall blond-haired man answered. "What's your beef?"

"You don't have Squall watching your every move," Mordred complained.

"So you're scared of Commander Puberty?" laughed Seifer Almasy.

"It's not funny," insisted the headmaster's son. "If I get caught right now it will blow everything."

"So then don't get caught," retorted the tall blond man.

The younger man wondered, "What's the problem between you and my father? Why do you hate him so?"

Seifer's expression grew serious. "We have a history, he and I. You wouldn't understand. Just do your job."

"I will," insisted Mordred. "Tonight - I'll catch them together tonight."

"Well, see that you do."

"Consider it done," promised the headmaster's son. 


	10. The Legacy Chapter Ten

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Ten

Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine sat at a back table in the cafeteria, having all arrived at the Garden earlier in the afternoon. Dinner hour was over and they were the only ones present outside of the dining room staff who were mopping the floor and cleaning the tables.

"What are we gonna do?" Selphie whined. "This is terrible." She was all but wringing her hands in her anxiety.

"Calm down, Selphie," Irvine said solicitously. "We'll figure something out."

"Where's Zell? Wasn't he supposed to meet us here?" Quistis asked.

"I don't know. Knowing him he probably got lost," Irvine laughed.

"Puleeze! Can we stay on the subject? This is serious, you know," Selphie complained.

"Okay, Selphie," Quistis replied, while gently patting her friend's hand. "You're right, of course. This is deadly serious. I think you and I should go and find Rinoa and try to talk some sense into her, before it's too late."

"Hey, what about me?" Irvine asked. "Why am I always the one left out?"

Selphie smiled at him and replied, "Do you really want us to answer that?"

Quistis began to laugh at Irvine's stunned expression and Selphie said, "Come on, let's go find Rinoa before I chicken out. Irvine, you stay here and wait for Zell."

The two women stood and left the cafeteria leaving Irvine behind wondering why it was always left to him to deal with the excitable Zell.

……….

It just so happened at that particular moment Zell was in his room talking with Mordred. He had just been heading out the door to go meet with his old friends when the headmaster's son literally forced himself into the room and demanded Zell speak with him.

Zell was impatiently working off his excess energy by pacing back and forth in the small room while Mordred sat perched on the edge of the bed speaking.

"Don't you realize the impact that this is having on the morale of the upper-classmen, not to mention all of the SeeDs?" the younger man asked factiously.

"I know, I know," Zell muttered in his pacing.

"Much less the damage and disrespect Lance and Rinoa's behavior is inflicting on the public persona of my father," Mordred continued. "After all, he is the headmaster of the Garden and he's being made to look a fool. Suppose the world press got a sniff of this? Garden would suddenly become a world laughingstock."

This caused Zell to literally shudder when he considered the ramifications of Mordred's last statement and what was worse, the implied threat behind it.

"After all," Mordred spoke, "everyone knows what is going on behind my father's back, but no one wants to speak of it. The Garden has become a huge dysfunctional family."

"Okay, okay, I get the picture. I'm not an idiot, you know," Zell protested.

_You could have fooled me, _ Mordred thought maliciously.

"But what do you expect me to do about it?" the older man asked.

Mordred smiled inwardly. _ Got ya! _ "I want you to come with me and serve as a witness. My father said he needed hard evidence or he wouldn't believe it. I'm going to provide him with that tonight."

With much misgiving, Zell agreed to accompany the headmaster's son on his spiteful mission. Silently Mordred led Zell from the room and down the corridor.

……….

Rinoa, Squall, and Lance sat quietly at their table in the executive dining room, the dried out remnants of the remains of their meal serving as evidence that they had finished eating some time before. As Rinoa sat uncomfortably looking at the two clearly unhappy men who were seated with her, she wondered with some anxiety why Squall had insisted they dine together.

"Well, I think - ," Rinoa began to speak, while pushing her chair back from the table.

"Rinoa, wait," Squall interrupted. "Before you go there's something I'd like to say. It's about Mordred."

"I'm glad you brought this up," Lance interrupted. "He's doing everything he can do to bring the Garden down around your ears. He must be stopped."

"He's my son," Squall said plainly.

"He's your enemy," Lance replied passionately.

"He's my only child," the headmaster said.

Rinoa ducked her head, unable to bear the sorrowful expression on her husband's countenance.

"There's something you two don't know that I should have already told you," Squall explained. "Mordred's mother is Morgan Le Fay, she is the Sorceress Adel's younger sister."

"I know, I know," Squall responded when he saw the look of astonishment on Rinoa and Lance's faces. "It's hard to believe, but it's true. She had sworn vengeance on Laguna, but discovered it to be so difficult to get near him, she chose me, his son, instead."

"She isn't a sorceress, is she Squall?" Rinoa finally spoke.

"No, but she had learned quite a bit of magic and she had no difficulty with using it on me when I was away on a mission and she enticed me to have dinner with her at her home. She had drugged my meal and you know the rest of what happened, I'm sure."

"But what was the point?" Rinoa asked.

"Son or daughter, she planned on raising them to hate me and then when they were old enough, to send them to me to wreak her revenge on me."

"That's all the more reason that Mordred should be stopped in any way possible," Lance said firmly.

"You will not harm him," Squall spoke harshly. "That is my order. He is half mine and I still have hopes of reaching him. What we need to do," Squall continued, while gazing intently at Lance and Rinoa, "is be on our best behavior. We must allow Mordred no leeway to work his poison."

"Now if you will excuse me," Squall said, while pushing back from the table and standing. "I need to go have a short meeting with the evening staff. Rinoa, I hope to see you at breakfast."

While Squall left the dining room, Lance and Rinoa sat silently. As soon as they felt he had left the immediate area, Rinoa spoke in anguish, "What are we to do?"

"I know what I should do, I should leave tonight and never come back."

"Oh no," Rinoa murmured and began to weep.

"But I can't leave you, my love," Lance said. "When I think of never seeing you again, I see no reason to live."

"What's to become of us?" Rinoa cried out.

……….

Mordred, with Zell standing beside him, waited in the corridor that housed Lance's room. They could observe the headmaster at the far end of the hallway as he wended his way around the Garden on his last nightly rounds.

Just as Squall was walking down the corridor, Mordred knocked loudly upon Lance's door. Not receiving any answer, the younger man inserted the pass key that Seifer had provided him with and swung the dorm room door wide open just as the headmaster came walking up.

Being only human and not really paying close attention to what was occurring, (in fact, Squall thought Mordred had just let Zell and himself into his own room), Squall took a casual glance into the room and was saddened beyond belief when he saw Lance rising up naked from his bed and Rinoa laying underneath him.

_She has forgotten to remain dressed, which should be the first rule of social etiquette when being entertained by a male friend in his room, _ thought Squall in shock, as he took several steps into the room.

"There! You see sir?" Mordred shouted out in glee, bringing even more people who were passing by into the room. Rinoa began to be racked with sobs with great gobs of tears flowing down her presently twisted features.

"The adulterer!" the headmaster's son cried out, literally jumping up and down in his excitement at finally causing the ruin he had been sent to create and pointing his right arm at Lance.

Presently beside himself with anger, Lance took two steps toward Mordred and pushed the younger man's arm aside.

"He struck me! He struck me! You all saw it!" shouted out Mordred. "Have him arrested and placed in the disciplinary room."

As if they had heard their names called out, two members of the disciplinary squad entered the room. Lance set about quickly gathering his clothes up in his arms in preparation of making a quick exit. He hated leaving Rinoa in the lurch, but what choice did he have? Turning toward his lover for a second, Lance managed to catch her eye even though she appeared to be in a state of shock.

_No surprise there, _ he thought. "I'll be back to get you," her handsome lover promised her.

The ebony-haired woman barely acknowledged his existence. Lance decided the quickest and easiest way out of the room was through or over Mordred, so having acquired all the necessary items of apparel, he raced directly at Squall's son and knocked him easily down to the floor on his way out of the room and into the corridor.

"Ow!" Mordred cried out. "He's trying to kill me!"

Once outside the room, Lance turned left and sprinted down the corridor toward the main part of the Garden. He didn't relish running nakedly through the atrium, but he was certain he wouldn't be allowed the luxury of enough time to dress right then. Lance dashed through the atrium after reaching the end of the corridor from the men's dormitory. He scurried out through the front gates and into the darkness of the night, which could hide a multitude of sins. On his way he passed Selphie and Quistis, who did take a double take when he darted by them.

"Did you see that?" Selphie asked, her voice full of wonderment.

After Quistis nodded, Selphie continued, "I wonder what it's all about."

"I'm not sure, but I have a real bad feeling about this," Quistis answered.

Back in Lance's room Squall ordered the two members of the disciplinary squad to escort Rinoa to one of the disciplinary cells immediately.

"But she's naked, sir," one of them protested.

Enraged, Squall replied, "I don't care! Wrap her in a sheet and take her clothes with her, but get her out of my sight!"

The two SeeDs led Rinoa wrapped in a sheet out of the room and down the corridor in the direction of the disciplinary cells, which were hidden away from the rest of the Garden and completely unknown to anyone not closely connected with the Garden. Squall glanced at Mordred who stood smiling at him and he couldn't help but curl his lip at the young man in a look of total distaste. The headmaster then turned without saying a word and left the room. 


	11. The Legacy Chapter Eleven

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Eleven

_Passion can neither be regulated nor denied _

It wasn't until the next evening that the four old friends could meet out near the front gates to discuss the terrible situation now facing the Garden. Besides Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, and Zell, there was a new addiction to the group. Her name was Akane and she was a SeeD in her late twenties who Zell had recently been dating. She was an extremely attractive redhead of short stature and was a fairly late transfer from the Garden at Esthar. After she greeted Irvine and Selphie and Zell had introduced her to Quistis, the group fell into a naturally uneasy discussion of what could possibly be accomplished to remedy the current tragedy that had befallen Squall and Rinoa.

Irvine wrapped up the immediate problem succinctly when he said, "The big question right now is what's Squall gonna do and how's Lance gonna respond."

"I think Squall is going to keep Rinoa in the disciplinary cell until hell freezes over and I think Lance is going to come and attempt to rescue her," answered Quistis.

Everyone present murmured their concurrence with this thought. "But what are we gonna do?" Selphie whined plaintively.

"What can we do?" Zell replied resignedly.

"That's what we're here to find out," Akane asserted.

The group of SeeDs stood silently for a matter of minutes. "Maybe we should have brought some chairs with us?" suggested Selphie. "I'm getting tired of just standing here."

"Or some vodka," Akane retorted with a smile upon her pretty features.

"Haha!" Irvine laughed. "That's pretty funny and a great idea to boot."

"Please," Quistis implored. "Can we get serious here? Lives might depend on us."

"How did this ever happen? Rinoa hated Lance when he first got here," Selphie commented.

"It was fate," Irvine said solemnly.

As they all turned to him in surprise as Irvine was not known to have a mystical bent, he continued, "From the second he stepped foot here, it was ordained - the world's greatest warrior and the beautiful sorceress. Passion can neither be regulated nor denied."

"I know what to do!" Selphie exclaimed excitedly. "Someone should go talk to Squall."

"Good idea, Selphie," agreed Quistis. "But who's gonna bell the cat?"

"Huh?" Selphie answered. "What cat?"

Amid the general laughter, Zell volunteered, "I'll do it. I'll beard the Leonhart in his den."

……….

Actually it wasn't until the next day that Zell made good on his promise and talked to Squall. The headmaster listened patiently as Zell made his ardent appeal for forgiveness before a greater tragedy was perpetuated and then he nodded and said, "I'll take it into consideration."

Zell nodded in return and then stood up and left Squall's office without another word. What was there left to say? Quistis and Selphie met him out in the hallway.

"Well?" Quistis asked.

"He said he'd think about it."

"I guess that's all we can hope for right now," commented Selphie.

Suddenly a cry went up from Nida over the P.A. system. "We are under attack. I repeat, the Garden is under attack. Everyone to their assigned battle station."

Stunned, Selphie, Quistis, and Zell all looked at each other. "Lance!" they said simultaneously.

……….

Racing into the main part of the Garden on the first floor, the three SeeDs observed armed combat between Balamb and presumably Trabia Garden SeeDs and upper-classmen. Quistis experienced complete desolation as she realized they had waited too long to appeal to Squall and now there were SeeD killing SeeD over the fate of Rinoa.

Refusing to participate in such a ludicrous activity, the three veterans threw themselves courageously between the fighting factions. Quistis was snapping _ Save the Queen _ in any and all directions, while shouting, "Stop it! Stop fighting immediately. You're all SeeDs!"

Zell cut a superhuman swath through the fighting tossing friends and foes alike to the side unconscious where they could fight no more while Selphie jumped up and down screaming, "OH-SUPER-DUPER-MEGA-BUMMER!"

Lance suddenly appeared in the central area after racing down a corridor. He was holding Rinoa in his arms as if he had had to force her to escape. "Come on!" he shouted to his troops and he led the retreat himself racing to the front gates as if he were the wind itself. Even in his advanced age of thirty-six, Zell had kept himself in excellent physical shape and he was still reckoned as one of the two or three top speed merchants in the Garden, but he couldn't keep Lance within his sight.

When he returned to Quistis and Selphie, he spotted Squall standing at the foot of the stairs that led to the elevators. The headmaster appeared completely desolate. As Zell approached him, Squall asked in a low tone, "Did Lance and Rinoa escape?"

Zell nodded his head in the affirmative. When Squall sighed, "Good," the blond-haired SeeD suddenly realized how conflicted the entire situation had left Squall. He was actually pulling for the people who were killing his troops.

Before Zell could respond, some SeeDs ran by shouting, "Everyone, get organized. We're headed to Trabia! We want revenge!"

Squall looked sorrowfully at Zell and murmured, "Revenge. The most useless reason to wage a war." 


	12. The Legacy Chapter Twelve

The Legacy

A Final Fantasy VIII Fan Fic

All rights to the characters and names of locations are owned by SquareSoft

Rated PG-13 for slight nudity and language

By Toysaurus

Chapter Twelve

Several days had passed due to the need to provide logistics for Squall's SeeDs. It was just before sunrise. The Balamb Garden forces were in encampment close to Trabia Garden. The torches illuminating the tents in the camp made it as bright as if it were midday. Squall was standing outside of his tent with a morning cup of coffee he was drinking out of a tin cup.

Hearing some strange rustling in the nearby forest directly behind his tent, Squall continued to sip from his coffee while he wandered over. Lance suddenly stepped out of the forest. Squall finished his coffee calmly and tossed the tin cup down.

The two close friends embraced in a manly fashion. They finally separated and stepped back from each other.

"I'm so sorry, Squall," Lance spoke, his voice rich in emotion.

Squall replied, "It's not as though any of us had a choice, Lance. You and Rinoa didn't consciously set out to hurt me just as I wouldn't want to choose to keep her caged as if she were an animal. By the way," the sable-haired man continued almost idly in a desperate attempt to keep his emotions in check, "How is Rinoa? Thriving, I hope?"

"She's right here," Lance explained. "She wasn't sure if you'd want to see her."

"Of course I want to see her," the headmaster responded without hesitation.

"Rinny, you can come out," Lance called as Rinoa stepped out from the forest.

She was attired in a long black robe with a hood attached. Squall stepped forward and embraced her.

With tears running down her face, Rinoa spoke tenderly, "Oh Squall, I'm so sorry - for you - and for myself. Someday you'll smile and then brush your hair back in your embarrassed way that I've always loved, but I won't be there to see it."

Her voice cracked completely and Rinoa began to sob uncontrollably.

"We had some wonderful years together, Rinoa. Now you and Lance can have the same," her husband said kindheartedly.

"We're not together, Squall," explained Squall's comrade. "Rinny's joined the Sisters."

Squall couldn't have been any more astonished. Rinoa had always had such bitter things to say about organized religion. Lance reached over and pulled the hood down that was attached to Rinoa's robe and displayed her almost completely shaven head.

"Oh Rinoa, what have you done?" Squall murmured.

The first crack of dawn appeared on the horizon.

"It's time we go, Squall," Lance explained. "The battle will soon begin."

Squall reached out and clasped the inside of Lance's arm, who reciprocated in like fashion.

"Listen to me," he spoke fervently. "You must stay alive - you must! Both of the Gardens will need your help and Rinoa will need you most of all. You must get her away from those insipid women."

"What are you saying?" Lance protested. "You make it sound as though you're planning on dying."

Squall smiled, but did not deny it, instead he spoke, "Even I am killed, I know I will return one day when I'm needed. I can't explain it, I just feel it deep inside of me."

Blushing slightly from appearing so idiotically mystical, the headmaster continued, "You forget, I'm fighting on two fronts. Your forces are only fighting mine. We're fighting you and Seifer and Mordred's combined army. And I promise you this, I'm taking Seifer down. This has been going on too long."

"So it was definitely Seifer behind sending Mordred to the Garden?" Lance asked.

"Oh, yeah, we know that for certain now," ascertained the headmaster.

"What are you going to do about your son?" Squall's friend inquired.

"After I kill Seifer, I'm going to embrace my son," the brown-haired man said oddly.

……….

The morning sun had risen high in the sky. The battle had been raging for hours. True to Squall's desire and manipulation, the Trabian troops withdrew from the field early on with Lance still very much alive. Trabia Garden had only been defending itself against the possible repercussions from Balamb Garden concerning the would be kidnapping of Rinoa.

The Balamb mercenaries had their hands full in the fight with the combined forces of Seifer and Mordred.

_Hyne only knows where they got all these soldiers from, _ thought Squall as he continued to hack his way across the battlefield. There were dead, dying and badly wounded everywhere and Squall's uniform was heavily splattered with the blood of others, but still he couldn't find Seifer and Mordred. If he knew his son at all, he figured to discover him somewhere safe, way behind the battle lines.

Suddenly Squall observed Seifer standing speaking emphatically with some of his officers. He obviously was displeased with their performance so far. He was pounding his right fist into his left palm as he spoke, presumably attempting to emphasize his point.

"Seifer!" Squall screamed as he raced across the open field. Squall had such adrenaline running through his body at the sight of his ancient enemy and Seifer had been so preoccupied that by the time the former knight had looked up the once and future _ Legendary SeeD _ was fully upon him.

Seifer drew _ Hyperion, _ but it was a case of too little too late as Squall swung _ Lionheart _ at Seifer's neck immediately upon his reaching the near vicinity of Seifer and his officers. ** BANG! ** - ** SWISH! ** And Seifer's head was now tumbling off his shoulders and onto the ground where it sat still wearing the same surprised expression it held in life just a few seconds before. A few seconds later the officers that weren't able to escape in time lay dead beside Seifer's headless body.

Dripping with their blood, Squall glanced around wild eyed at the country side searching for his son. Suddenly he head a voice call out, "Father, I'm up here. Come and visit, why don't you?"

Mordred was shouting from the crest of a steep hill from where he could watch the battle unfolding from a safe vantage point and still be comfortable, as he had a huge tent set up. Squall realized that even though his son was a coward as far as battle combat that he hated him so much he would welcome a fight with his father. It was so very important to the headmaster to end it here and not have Mordred bothering Lance and Rinoa after he was gone.

Turning away from the sun which was now high in the sky and had prevented him from properly seeing Mordred in the first place, Squall turned and waved at his son as if to say, _ I'll be right up._

With that, Squall began to run up the hill after stooping down and picking up Seifer's _ Hyperion. Well, he won't be needing this anymore, _ Squall thought.

Finally obtaining the summit, Squall called out, "I'm here, son."

Mordred stepped outside of his tent holding a goblet of wine. Stopping to take a sip before speaking, he held it up. "Would you care to partake of some _ vino _ before we begin our scrimmage?"

Squall shook his head no, not trusting his voice further. Here stood his only son, the only child he will ever have. Here stood his most deadly enemy, the one most responsible for bringing his carefully structured life down around his ears. Mordred must die and then Squall realized he himself could not live after killing the only progeny he would ever have.

Holding _ Lionheart _ in his right hand and _ Hyperion _ in his left hand as though they were spears rather than gunblades, Squall invited, "Come, Mordred. Let us embrace one another."

Mordred very carefully set his goblet on the ground and drew his gunblade.

_Of course, _ Squall thought. _ He would have to choose a gunblade. _

Mordred fell into the most widely taught battle stance. Squall just shook his head at the younger man and sadly smiled before setting off on a dead sprint toward him, which culminated in _ Lionheart _ and _ Hyperion _ thrusted completely through Mordred and his son's gunblade plunged into Squall's heart. They both sank to the ground together and died as their red blood flowed from their bodies into the snow beneath them.

……….

The entirety of Trabia Garden (except for a few SeeDs left behind to guard the structure) and all of Balamb Garden (naturally because it was held in Balamb) attended the funeral of Squall Leonhart. Of course, Seifer and Mordred were buried beside him, but no one attended for Mordred. Seifer, of course, had always had his followers, but on today of all days, they wisely chose discretion.

Everyone agreed it was a lovely service and hadn't the embalmer done a wonderful job restoring the bodies. Why she even managed to cause Seifer's head to look attached to the rest of his body.

Many people spoke in honor of Squall. A specially chosen upper-classman spoke movingly to begin the service. He read from some of the former Headmaster Cid's writings, which were discovered after his death concerning Squall's early magnificent performance at the age of seventeen during the Galbadian Garden attack.

After the upper-classman had finished and retaken his seat, Xu stood up in front of the gathering. Her voice fraught with emotion, she wiped a random tear from the corner of her eye and then began, "I realize that many people here today will have glowing accolades when they speak of Squall. He had many fine qualities, but I choose to say something more personal relating to myself. It was a total delight to work under him as his assistant headmaster. This is because he allowed me to perform my job to the best of my ability without constantly looking over my shoulder. Squall was a professional in the finest sense of the word and he expected others to be as well, until proven otherwise. As a young man, Squall saved the entire world from the horrors of time compression. In the next nineteen years, he strove to make it a better place with his honor and his work ethic. I will miss him dearly and remember him always."

There were tears flowing down many people's faces as Xu returned to his chair. Next to stand up to address the assembly was Squall's right-hand man, lo these many years, Zell. He almost stumbled on his way to the front and then he gripped the podium so hard it appeared he was attempting to grind it into saw dust.

As if he had suddenly grasped the size of the crowd that was watching him expectantly, Zell instantly broke out in heavy perspiration despite the frigid December temperature. The longer he stood appearing completely stunned, the more people were tempted to break into inappropriate giggling.

Finally Zell attempted to speak, "Uh…um…," he stammered.

Now blushing furiously from embarrassment, Zell suddenly dropped to one knee and slammed the ground hard. " This whole thing with Squall dying makes me mad as hell!" he exclaimed.

Mortified now at himself, Zell stood and quickly returned to his chair in front of the astonished assembly. Selphie stood immediately, picked up a guitar that was laying at her feet and approached the podium.

"Rinoa has written a song and she asked me to sing it for her," Selphie explained, her voice full of sadness. "Zell has agreed to accompany me on the guitar."

The green-eyed woman naturally expected Zell to join her at the podium and when he didn't she turned and observed him staring at the ground obviously not listening. Selphie stepped back to him and very gently nudged his ankle to get his attention. Zell looked up appearing completely panicked.

"Here," she spoke, thrusting the guitar at him.

Now blushing from further embarrassment, Zell stood and followed Selphie back to the podium. She began to sing in a sweet clear voice;

_It's too late to cry I love you.  
The wind still blowing, my heart still aching._

One side of my eyes see tomorrow,  
and the other see yesterday.  
I wish I could sleep in the cradle of your love,  
again.

The real folk blues,  
I just want to feel a real sorrow.  
It's not bad a life in the muddy river  
if life is once.

Hopeless hope, and the chance with traps  
what is right or wrong.  
It's like both sides of a coin.

How long I must live 'til I release?

The real folk blues.  
I just want to feel a real pleasure again.  
All that glitters is not gold.

The real folk blues,  
I just want to feel a real sorrow.  
It's not bad a life in the muddy river  
if life is once. 

The gathering sat stunned, wanting to burst into applause when Selphie finished her sweet rendition of Rinoa's heartfelt lyrics, but realized how inappropriate it would be at a funeral service. Selphie took a slight bow and turning, grabbed Zell by the arm and pulled him along to his seat, as he had been just standing paralyzed in shyness again. They both reseated themselves.

Quistis stood and gracefully approached the podium. Reaching into her full dress uniform pocket, she withdrew some folded papers and quietly opened them. She began to recite:

_As he defeated dying,  
On whose forbidden ear  
The distant trains of triumph  
Break, agonized and clear._

Our share of night to bear,  
Our share of morning,  
Our blank in bliss to fill,

Our blank in scorning.

Here a star, and there a star,  
Some lose their way.  
Here a mist, and there a mist,  
Afterwards - day!

Remorse is memory awake,  
Her companies astir,-  
A presence of departed acts  
At window and at door.

Its past set down before the soul,  
And lighted with a match,  
Perusal to facilitate  
Of its condensed dispatch.

Remorse is cureless, - the disease  
Not even God can heal;  
For 'tis His institution,-  
The complement of hell. 

Finished, Quistis quietly returned to her chair and reseated herself. Next Irvine led a contingent of seven sharpshooters recruited from among the various Gardens, Lance included, who fired three times in a twenty-one gun salute. The crowd began to buzz quietly amongst themselves as no one else had stood and approached the podium for a matter of minutes.

Finally Selphie arose from her chair and approached Rinoa, who was sitting beside Lance. Kneeling down by the sorceress, Selphie spoke quietly with her, obviously entreating her to speak. At first, Rinoa appeared reluctant and she offered a negative shake of her head, but finally she agreed and approached the podium.

Rinoa was wearing a medium length simple black dress and had made the decision to wear no covering on her almost completely shaven head. She certainly appeared odd to many of the assemblage, to say the least.

With tears running freely down her cheeks, Rinoa spoke almost inaudibly, "I will never forget." She began to cry more and lowered her head, attempting to regain her composure.

Rinoa was suddenly racked with such sobbing that Lance quickly stood and approached the podium beside her.

"I only have a few words to offer to the memory of Squall Leonhart. It is fittingly so, because he too was a speaker of few words. Instead Squall offered actions to speak for him. The last time I talked to him, he told me that he would return some day when he was needed. At the time, this just confused me, but I think have now gained some understanding of what he meant. I offer this as the fitting epithet on his grave stone and in the pages of history; Squall Leonhart - Headmaster of the Garden, Caretaker of Many, True Friend to a Few, Honest and Loving Husband of Rinoa, Father of Mordred, The Once and Future Legendary Seed."

The End

A/N - The song is from the anime series _ Cowboy Bebop. _ I could not locate the writer's name. The poetry was written by Emily Dickinson. 


End file.
